A Sudden Surge
by Arcade Lackey
Summary: Recently rewritten! With the coming of Sugar Rush 2, Litwak buys two replacement surge protectors as he had no more room to plug in the new game on the old one. Due to a mistake on Felix's part, both he and Ralph lose their memory, and are initially split from the others. There is an old threat lurking in the arcade as well. Contains Ralph/Older!Vanellope and Felix/Calhoun.
1. Litwak's Realization

**Author's Note: **This story takes place a little over five months after the events of the movie. There is a 'slice of life' direct sequel with currently 126 chapters so far, titled 'The Honeyglow Surge'. It focuses more heavily on romance and humor while still maintaining a relaxed plot for the most part, though it has its share of conflict as well.

The italicized sentences in this story are what the character is thinking.

This story is about Felix falling in love with Calhoun all over again, and how Ralph and 'Vannie' meet then eventually start going out, as well as dealing with the hidden threat in the arcade. Hero's Cuties is present, naturally, as well as a **brief** showing of Taffy Butter.

The sequel will actually be two sequels once I'm done separating 'The Honeyglow Surge'. Ralph/Vannie, Rancis/Taffyta, (secret)/(secret) and much later on (secret)/(secret) will remain in 'The Honeyglow Surge'. I will make a new story called 'The Honeyglow of Heroes' for the other pairings which include Felix/Calhoun and two (then much later on, three) other pairings, each containing a soldier from Hero's Duty.

The Sugar Rush characters getting paired are all adults, being from Sugar Rush 2.

* * *

Litwak had always been keen to watch for new releases, and always judged from reviews whether or not to order a game for his arcade. It was a practice he started ever since he had to unplug Turbo Time and RoadBlasters. This time was a bit different however, at least as far as waiting for reviews goes. He was following rumors of a Sugar Rush sequel for years, as that was easily one of his most popular titles, especially since Vanellope had started showing up on the roster again after 15 long years of going missing.

And after all those years of waiting, it's finally a reality. Due to all of the hype it had been receiving in Japan in the form of figurines, keychains, posters and such, Litwak absolutely knew he needed the newly released Sugar Rush 2. There was no question. He had even pre-ordered it the very day the option became available on the TobiKomi website.

It's set within the world of Sugar Rush, 10 years later, with 15 new tracks and better controls, as well as remastered versions of the original tracks and a few new characters to boot. It was going to arrive the next day, the long wait would finally be over.

After meticulously planning its placement a distance away from the original Sugar Rush Speedway, to the left of Street Fighter II, Litwak realized a fatal flaw in his plans.

"Oh no," Litwak said, his voice filled with grief. _I may be overreacting, but 30 years of history will be wiped clean..I can't believe I didn't notice I have no unused plugs._ He sighed and stroked his forehead. "I guess I need a new surge protector. I better hurry if I'm going to be ready for tomorrow."

Most of his games lose their highscores when the power goes out or the cabinets are reset, and he does what he can to avoid this. He even went as far as staying at the arcade during storms and having a backup generator set to kick on in case the power ever went out.

"I can't believe I put this off for 30 years," Litwak said with a disbelieving, somber chuckle. _This setup paid off until now, but it's time to upgrade. All those years protecting my Fix-It Felix Jr. highscore from inclement weather.. One of my proudest accomplishments aside from the arcade itself.. At least with Fix-It Felix Jr. there's a backup battery that keeps it powered for 5 minutes before going dead. But the other old games.._ He sighed again and shook his head.

Litwak paced around the room listing games mentally. _I don't have to worry about the highscores for Hero's Duty, Sugar Rush, or that E-Z Livin' game the kids like.. I never saw the attraction to that last one, but it's a TobiKomi and the kids do 'like it'.. Then of course there's DDR, Undead Apocalypse 3.. Who knows which others? It's not a complete loss at least._

"I may as well go buy that surge protector now," Litwak said, "Maybe one with 30 outlets. Oh! and a UPS as well," his mood instantly brightened at the prospect of even more games, and an 'uninterruptible power supply' that would keep a stable power flow for a little while even if the power did go out. _It'll give the generator some time get warmed up. I was always wary of that, thinking it wouldn't send power quickly enough to power all of the games at the same time. Now if I could just find the space for those potential other games.._

Litwak turned out the lights and gave the games a few parting words of regret before leaving and locking the doors behind him. _Like they can hear me.. _Unknown to him, the games were no longer playing their title screens before he even left. Rather, the characters in each game were hit with a wave of dread and doubt, practically paralyzed in fear.

"What are we gonna do?!" Ralph yelled, accidentally breaking the side of the apartment building in his outburst. "**Forget** about highscores! Our **memory** will be wiped if we get unplugged!" He said it, but they were all thinking it. _I gotta.. I gotta think.. This isn't fair! I finally got the recognition I've longed for for 30 years, and so many friends.. Some of whom would disappear if our game got unplugged. They're not part of the game. They'll die.._ He slumped against the Niceland building next to the hole he made. _Everything I've worked so hard for will disappear in an instant.. Even if I **don't** remember. Even if things only go back to the way they were.. Vanellope.. The thought of forgetting her. How we met. How I saved her game.. and life.._ He got sick to his stomach. His eyes welled with tears as he could feel the rage building inside of him. He clenched his fists and breathed heavily through his nose trying to calm himself down, though it wasn't working.

Before Ralph had a chance to topple the building in his sudden grief-stricken rage, an alarm went off at the mine carts leading to Game Central Station and an announcement could be heard signaling everyone there.

As the characters of Fix-It Felix Jr. left their game, they could hear a new repeating announcement that replaced the usual Sonic Says warning about leaving your game.

Clyde of Bad Anon could be seen on the screens. He was one of the few Bad Guys that the citizens of Game Central Station respected, as he often acted as a counselor. "Attention everyone," he said calmly, "Please remain calm and report to the entrance of Tapper's. We are having an emergency meeting to discuss what we can do to keep the damage to a minimum."

To say that it was a bit cramped would be an understatement, with hundreds of characters from Sugar Rush alone taking up much of one side of Game Central Station.

Admittedly, the announcement wasn't thought through very much, but something had to be done as soon as possible in an effort to keep everyone more or less calm.

Suddenly the message was replaced with a live broadcast from the entrance of Tapper's, so that everyone could hear without needing to be there.

A loud echoing sound reverberated throughout Game Central Station as Zangief tapped the mic, since Clyde had no hands to do so himself.

"Thank you, Zangief," Clyde said calmly as Zangief stepped to the side, "Now everyone, I know things are a bit hectic right now with the sudden news.. But we **do** have a plan of action.." He smiled faintly, looking over the crowd. _Why he didn't mention anything until the day before a new game arrives is anyone's guess.._

Clyde paused to give everyone a moment to collectively sigh in relief.

"President Vanellope von Schweetz has offered sanctuary in Sugar Rush to those characters whose games erase their highscores and characters' memories upon powering down.." Clyde said with a warm, reassuring smile. _Thank you, Vanellope._

"That's right," Vanellope said cheerfully, glitching onto the podium and grabbing the mic, "You see, our game was **always** meant to have an increasing roster of racers, so our game has a large amount of unused space. They just never got around to making new characters. Figured it would take popularity from already finished racers, I guess."

After she placed the mic back on the podium, Vanellope glitched to where Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun were standing and gave them a knowing smirk. _You're all coming with me._

Clyde continued on to announce, "The characters of X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2 have **also** extended a similar invitation, as multiple instances of the same few characters are used no matter which location is loaded at the time, so their game can **easily** accommodate a large amount of characters." _Of course they tend not to get along with **themselves**._

"Good good good, like it like it, good good like it like it," said one nearby character of X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2. He happily waved.

It's no small wonder that few people would choose to go there for the move. It's hard to get along with someone you can't understand.

"We have until tomorrow to prepare," Clyde said reassuringly, "So please, bring any belongings you **need** to your game of choice before then. That is all." _No need to bring anything that will regenerate and won't get used right away._

With this Clyde concluded the meeting and headed back to Pac-Man to pack up a few spare bodies, as if he 'died' he would just turn into a pair of invincible floating eyes.

Nearly everyone else left in a bit of a hurry, bumping into one another constantly, packed like sardines as they were.

With one glance down at Felix and the goofy grin he had on his face, Calhoun sighed and said, "Saccharin world it is." It was a special place for the two of them, despite Calhoun not openly admitting to liking sweets.

"Jiminy jaminy!" Felix exclaimed with a fist pump. _S-U-G-A-R jump into your racing car! I'm gonna have that song in my head all day now._

"This'll be the best! It's just like a sleepover!" Vanellope said as she jumped around in excitement. _Ralph **never** stays over in my game. That changes today!_

Ralph still had his doubts. _I can't shake the feeling that not everything will go as planned.._ He furrowed his brow.

"It'll be **fine**, Stinkbrain," Vanellope said with a confident smirk, "Litwak will just think he's **cuckoo** again." _Like his nana.._

"Yeah.." Ralph said skeptically, his brow still furrowed. _I hope you're right. I wonder what game Litwak is even getting. He's been real hush hush about it even to Lindsey. Although **she** probably knows already.._

* * *

Back in Fix-It Felix Jr., there wasn't much for Ralph to pack. A tuxedo with the wrist and ankle sections torn, the 'medal' Vanellope made for him.. He never did find the one he 'earned' in Hero's Duty, and a spare key to the penthouse where he would bathe and brush his teeth at **least** once a week.. It was good, for him, considering his code insists he never does either activity. A lot of good it does him though, as it only lasts him until the next quarter alert.

Having packed in three minutes flat, Ralph sat around in Sugar Rush with Vanellope watching the racers to kill time. Felix on the other hand was the polar opposite.

* * *

**Author's Note:** There's not going to be any Ralph/Vannie romance until late in the story, but this story has everything to do with why and how they start dating. Also, the original Vanellope isn't going anywhere. Vannie is a new character who comes with Sugar Rush 2, although.. Well, I don't want to spoil it. The sequel, 'The Honeyglow Surge', is where their love will really blossom.

Lindsey is the name I've given Moppet Girl, in case you're wondering.

While this story is 'complete' (aside from the sequel), I will at some point be adding a few more chapters to extend the ending bits that got summarized rather than shown. If you're interested in seeing those parts as well, please follow/favorite.


	2. Unplugged

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

The next day came in a flash.

The arcade was closed that day. It was a Monday. Litwak dedicated this one day out of every week to playing his arcade games a bit and getting much needed rest. It need not be said that today was special, however. And since the arcade was closed, he had plenty of time to have everything set up for Sugar Rush 2's big day.

By this time, Litwak was outside signing for his new baby. His signature was a bit off, as his hand was shaking with excitement to the extent that his name was no longer legible. _Really? Come on, hands._ He chuckled to himself in embarrassment.

The delivery guy paid no mind to it, however. _As long as it's signed for._

Most of the game characters had their belongings and were already in the games they chose to stay in throughout what they all hoped would only amount to a few minutes.

The exceptions were Felix, and Ralph who came to grab him because he was taking too long. Felix was still packing up his treasured medals. Thirty years worth is no small pile, even if they **were** only the ones with 50,000 points or more on them.

Hearing Litwak ushering in the delivery guy made Felix panic, dropping several onto the floor. _Jiminy jaminy.. What am I even doing?!_

Other characters could faintly be heard making various title screen sounds to feign still being in their games.

Litwak noticed the differences as he always did, but he was used to his ears seemingly playing tricks on him. _Ignore it, Stanley. If I turn around and check, not only will I see that everything is normal, but I'll look cuckoo. Like my nana.._

"C'mon Felix, we're getting unplugged any minute now!" Ralph urged, before yelling, "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" to keep up appearances. _Why do you need to keep every single one?! **why**?!_

"Jiminy jaminy, I know Ralph! But I just can't find it!" Felix said in a panicked voice, "I want to at least bring the one with a highscore of 120,501 on the back of it, I've got the other top scores already in Sugar Rush but I just can't go without **that** one." _Forget the other medals.. I'm such an idiot.._

"Look I understand how you feel," Ralph said with a disappointed sigh, "That was an amazing day for **all** of us, but it's **too late**, there will be other medals to.. hang on, is that it around your neck?" Ralph narrowed his eyes and pointed at the bump under Felix's shirt. _I can't even believe you.._

"Now I've been higgledy piggledy trying to find this thing, and it was here the whole time," Felix mused. He had put it there much earlier so he would always have it with him, but simply forgot. He was smiling, but it was a mix of apprehension and regret. _How did I forget?! We have to go. **Now**!_

Before anything else could stop them, Ralph and Felix made their way out of the apartment building, leaving other medals behind in boxes. It's not like they would all show on the highscores anyway.

They were nearly to the railway when everything went dark, just a dim light coming through the screen.

They realized then, it really was too late. Litwak had already unplugged the surge protector, and began unplugging each game one after another from the old surge protector after that.

They sat there in the railway carts for what seemed an eternity, though in reality this moment lasted no longer than 13 seconds as the game began to fully power down. First the outermost edges of the forest faded into nothing, as if sucked into a vortex of darkness.

Felix clutched at the medal around his neck. _I wish I knew it was here sooner. Maybe then we could have gotten out in time.. I'm so sorry, Tammy.._

Ralph closed his eyes as he began to grieve. _Felix, I know how you must be feeling.._ _I'm so sorry, Vanellope.._

There was nothing else they could do but wait as their final bits of consciousness faded away.

Their game did indeed have a backup battery installed, but that quietly failed 3 years earlier, unknown to Litwak. It was through sheer miracle alone that their game had not once lost power for longer than a split second in those 3 years since.

"Aww.. Well, that's one highscore table ruined," Litwak said somberly after realizing that the game was no longer running, instead of staying powered a few minutes like he expected, "The battery must've gone kaput.. I'll have to have that replaced later." _Sorry guys._ Litwak longingly ran his hand over the top of the cabinet. _I'll get you some new highscores someday.._

Little did Ralph and Felix know, there was another in Fix-It Felix Jr. at the time it was unplugged.


	3. Plugged Back In

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Here she is. Old Faithful.." Litwak said in a bittersweet tone as he held up his old surge protector, "Been having the same surge protector for 31 years now and it hasn't failed once. Though thinking about it, heh, it wasn't really the best idea to have 24 games hooked up to the same one. Best to just split them up."_ I'm lucky **this** baby hasn't gone kaput. Although there was the second Star Wars cabinet I bought that nearly caught fire a good few years back. Could be coincidence._

The delivery guy honestly didn't care very much, but nodded in agreement. _My job is over.. Can you tell me what you need done so I can go? If you weren't such a nice guy I'd have left already._

"I was originally going to buy just one surge protector and use 'Old Faithful' as well," Litwak said to make conversation, "but it's really not the brightest idea to use such an ancient model. So instead I bought two 15 outlet surge protectors with 'uninterruptible power supplies'." That way I don't have to worry about the generator so much. _Man of few words._

The delivery guy simply nodded as Litwak plugged the first surge protector into an outlet across the room, saving the side with Sugar Rush 2 and Fix-It Felix Jr. for last.

"I guess I'll unplug some of these extension cords as well, won't be needing **them** anymore," Litwak said as he pulled a dozen extension cords from the cabinets they were plugged into and plugged the machines directly into the brand new surge protector, "There we go.. Oh, can you slide this one over a bit?" _It would look better like this.._

The first games to be plugged back in were Dragon's Lair, Hoop Jamz, Pac-Man, Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, Silver Strike 2007, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, Sugar Rush, Super Mario Arcade GP, Target Bravo, and X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2.

The power came on for those games as if the power was only out for a few seconds, quickly booting up to their title screens. The title screens were a bit off, however, having no characters in them, as well as many of them having no highscores.

Litwak refused to look at the screens, though he knew they sounded wrong. _Ignore your ears, Stanley. If you look up, you'll prove you've gone cuckoo._

"Anyone seen Fix-It?" Calhoun asked firmly with a hint of worry. She was still not fully accustomed to calling him Felix, especially not around others. She was standing at the exit of Sugar Rush next to Vanellope and the Nicelanders right where they were when the games were first unplugged. _He'd better be alright, or else Wreck-It will have to answer for it._

"Stinkbrain didn't show back up since he went go check on Felix," Vanellope said plainly, "They probably went to E-Z Livin' instead." _But why would they do that? Ralph, you better be okay.._

For Felix it was a given, but Gene and the other Nicelanders were also worried about Ralph. And not just out of concern for their game. It was an interesting experience for them, because if they were true to themselves, they still somewhat held Ralph going Turbo for a day against him. They kept it to themselves, however, understanding that they too were to blame.

It was finally Fix-It Felix Jr.'s turn, getting plugged into the other surge protector. Altered Beast, Blood and Thunder, BurgerTime, Dance Dance Revolution X2, Dig Dug, Finish Line, Frogger, Hero's Duty, The House of the Dead, Satan's Hollow, Street Fighter II, Sugar Rush 2, and Undead Apocalypse 3. There were a few others, such as the Space Invaders and the Wak-a-Troll game being among them, however they were all plugged directly into wall outlets.

As each game was plugged in, the respective characters rushed over to their games, except for those plugged into the one Fix-it Felix Jr. was plugged into, as there was no way for them to get there. At least not yet..

At this point Litwak's skin was practically crawling. _I really have gone cuckoo.. It's just the new setup, Stanley. Everything is fine whenever you check._

Ralph and Felix, like getting plugged in for the very first time, had no idea what was going on and did their best to emulate the title screen with just the two of them.

To the delivery guy's relief, Litwak thanked him, and gave him a twenty for staying to move the machines for him. Just like that he left, not quite getting the whole 'leaving your house to play games' thing.

Before anything else, Litwak instantly jumped into the driver's seat of Sugar Rush 2's cabinet and was instantly hooked.

A new addition in Sugar Rush 2 was scripted taunts and monologues that were used when passing up a racer. Each racer also had a backstory that was revealed over the course of the races in their story mode, which could only feasibly be completed if progress was saved to a memory card. Luckily, Litwak also happened to have said memory cards for sale.

* * *

"Hey uh.. Felix, you have any idea where everyone else is?" Ralph asked confusedly when he was sure Litwak couldn't hear them. _Our game must be busted. It's just the two of us.._

"Why no, Ralph.. Just where is everyone?" Felix wondered aloud nervously, "Luckily the owner hasn't noticed anything wrong." _Oh my land.. We're going to get unplugged on our first day unless I can fix this somehow.._

Chills shot down their spines, fearing the worst, completely unaware of the circumstances.

* * *

After playing nearly 4 hours, Litwak called it a day and headed home to try to get some rest. He hadn't slept a single wink the previous night, unable to think about anything but having that new game. He felt like a kid again. It was enough to make him forget that the demo screens sounded wrong all that time.


	4. Erased Memories

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"All clear!" Yuni from DDR X2 could be heard yelling from beyond the screen of the game Fix-It Felix Jr., which resulted in a few seconds of dead silence.

"Hey Ralph, you think maybe these folks have some idea of what's going on?" Felix asked worriedly. They were on the balcony of the Niceland apartment building. _Jaminy.. If we can't figure this out, our game.._

"Yeah, maybe," Ralph replied skeptically, before yelling as loud as he could, "Hey anyone know what's going on around here? We just got plugged in and we're missing some people." _Nearly everybody. It's just me and Felix. What's going on around here? Our game is going to get unplugged for sure.._

Felix slunk away, just inside the building, not wanting to be in front of Ralph since the latter was in a bad mood.

"Hey that's Ralph!" Vanellope yelled excitedly, her face pushed up against the character select screen of Sugar Rush, thanks to one of the marshmallow race attendants, "What are you doing still in your game Stinkbrain?" _You look fine, at least. I was almost worried for a while there.._

"Who's that?" Ralph asked, mostly to himself before yelling again, "Listen kid, I ain't no 'Stinkbrain', yeah? I just want some answers around here." _And I want them tout suite._

"Cool it, Wreck-It! This ain't the time for belly achin'. Is Fix-It with you?" Calhoun chimed in firmly, taking a slot of the characters elect screen, "You two were supposed to be here **hours** ago!" _I said Fix-It again.. It's Felix. __**Felix**__._

Ralph rolled his eyes and grabbed Felix by the back of his shirt from inside the building and held him up. "Yeah, he's right **here**," he yelled in a somewhat joking manner before putting him down softly, "We supposed to know you or something?" A look of indifference dominated his face. _They certainly act like it._

"I apologize for my friend here," Felix said nervously in a mildly raised voice while briefly glancing over to Ralph, "Like Ralph here said, we just got plugged in and the rest of our characters are nowhere to be found." _And we're in quite the pickle if we don't somehow get them to show up.._

"You don't remember **anything**? Nothing at **all**?" Gene chimed in, taking another slot of the character select screen. _This isn't good.. They're alive and well, so our game is safe.. But 30 and a half years.. All gone in the blink of an eye._

"**Gene**? Gene is that you?" Felix asked, somewhat relieved, "What are you doing over there, friend?" _The others must be with him, thank goodness.._

"Perhaps I can explain," Clyde said while taking yet another slot of the character select screen, "You see Ralph, Felix.. The arcade owner, Mr. Litwak has replaced the power strip that once housed all of our games with two new ones. The two of you alone seem to have stayed behind in your game for some reason, and from what you are saying, it is clear that your memories were **erased** along with the highscores." _All we can do now is try to pick up the pieces as best we can.._

"**Erased**.." Felix said to himself in disbelief. _It doesn't feel__ as though __anything i__s missing, but all evidence point__s__ towards them telling the truth._ He tried his best to put a positive spin on it. _Hey, at least __we__'re __all __alive __and our game won't get unplugged__._ Thinking about it like that made it much easier on him, though Ralph didn't seem to mind much at all.

"I would like you to try meeting up with the soldiers of Hero's Duty," Clyde said, "They seem to be on the same power strip as you. Perhaps they can help you somehow." _They can at least keep you company until transportation between power strips can be arranged somehow.._

"And stay away from those damn **eggs**, we don't need a repeat of.. nevermind." Calhoun hastily added in a firm, demanding voice.

"Will do!" Felix happily declared while waving goodbye. _The graphics of that game are __**good**__.. How long has it been since our game came out?__ Well, there__'__s no use worrying about it now._


	5. Names?

Felix and Ralph made their way to the railway leading out of their game. They could see a glowing blue person standing there, seemingly waiting for them.

"Well it's about **time** you two got here," said the old surge protector in a dull voice. His name, which he didn't give out often, was William. He happened to have a medal around his neck, which was quite similar to the ones Felix would constantly win. So similar in fact that it could be nothing else.

Sensing that Ralph was about to say something rude or insulting, Felix hurriedly said, "Sorry sir, were you.. waiting for us?" He laughed nervously, his left hand was 'holding Ralph back', "Oh, is that a medal from this game, by any chance?" _It __**has**__ to be.. It says my name on it._

Ralph glanced down at the tiny hand and shrugged while scratching the back of his head. _That kid really got me in a sour mood. What kind of insult is__ '__S__tinkbrain' __anyways? I need to calm down. Because otherwise I'm going to end up wrecking something. It's my __**job**__, being the Bad Guy of this game, but that doesn't mean I have to be like that on my down time, does it?_

William sighed. He handed the medal from around his neck to Felix and said, "I was here, you know. Waiting for you two so that we could get the heck out of this place before it went down. Just barely made it out alive, thanks to that busted up backup battery. Litwak should really have that checked someday." _Faulty connection. I could just barely squeeze in in time. Luckily it still gets juice from the outlets._

"Is that so?" Ralph asked in an attempt to feign interest. It wasn't a very good attempt admittedly, but points for trying.

"I got stuck, of course," William said with his arms crossed, "Didn't have any way to know **I** was getting unplugged until it happened. Everything just **went dark**.. I've seen games come and go, but I never realized just how **frightening** it can be." He shuddered. _In any case, I made it out alright._ "Anyways I saw the two of you sitting in the mine carts here, motionless.. like a pair of lifeless dolls_._" He cleared his throat. _Saying it like that was a bit thoughtless.._ "Well anyways, Felix here was clutching onto this medal pretty hard so I figured I would hold onto it and sit around in the battery until the game was plugged back in. Didn't feel right interrupting your 'game' though, so I just stood here out of sight."

"Thank you sir, for saving this," Felix said with tears in his eyes. _It's okay, you made it.. But a **medal**! My very first medal! I'd better fix this leaky nose of mine before it gets out of hand.._ He grinned and hit himself with his hammer. "Ha, nobody can fix a leak like me." _Corny joke, I know._

"That's all nice and stuff, but aren't we supposed to be going to that _Hero's Duty_ game?" Ralph asked. _Yeah, the joke wasn't funny, Felix._

"Oh that's right! Almost forgot," Felix said, "Will you be coming with us as well, Mr. uh.. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name." _I probably should know it already, but since we were reset.._

"It's William," he answered, "I suppose so. Not really anything for me to do now, anyways." _Technically __I'm__ out of a job. No reason not to tag along. It beats being alone._

They each took a seat in the railway carts and made their way to Game Station West, as it would later be named.

It was still fairly empty inside, just the bare bones, no signs indicating which game is plugged in where on most outlets. Red lasers appeared around the outlet they came from, accompanied by a short, mildly annoying alarm.

Another surge protector appeared nearby and asked in a somewhat friendly manner, "Names?"

"Ah, hello there sir," Felix said cheerfully, "My name is Fix-It Felix Jr. from the **game** Fix-It Felix Jr. These are my friends Wreck-It Ralph, and William." _Oh, I didn't catch his last name, did I?_

"You must have been stationed at the old power strip," the new surge protector said, extending his hand for a handshake, "Can I get your last name?" _Which brand were you with?_

"Olsen," William said and sighed softly, shaking the other surge protector's hand. _I do__n't miss this part of __my__ job. Asking people who they were, where they came from, where they were going time and again. It becomes kind of hard to love your job when nobody seems to like you for doing it. It__'__s obvious this guy is new to the job. When you do the same thing for 31 years you quickly find less to smile about._

"Alright, where are you three headed?" the surge protector asked, scribbling down on a notepad.

"We're meeting some dudes in Hero's Duty," Ralph quickly replied, not all together enjoying being held up answering questions. _Why __i__s it any of his business anyways?_

The surge protector finished scribbling down on his notepad and said, "I'll show you the way. Oh, and my name is Alex Belkin. A pleasure to meet you.. Oh, almost forgot." He pointed at the empty sign above their outlet, and a tiny arc of electricity from his finger zapped it, changing it to reflect that the game is Fix-It Felix Jr. "Hero's Duty is right this way." He motioned for them to follow him.

They walked past 3 outlets to reach Hero's Duty, the last of which was Sugar Rush 2.

"Since you've got Mr. Olsen here, I'm sure you'll be alright, no offense," Alex said plainly, "But do be careful about the **eggs** in there. From what I was told by Mr. Marco a moment ago, these huge things called Cy-bugs hatch from them. They apparently don't even realize they're from a game and all they do is eat, kill, and multiply. Kind of scary if you think about it. And what's worse, they **literally** are what they eat. Had one get out a while ago with some kind of guns fused into its arms. Gave me one heck of a start. Luckily they have this huge building that shoots out a beam of light every now though. The bugs can't resist it, then **bzzzt**. That's a uh, a zapping sound." _I just thought you should know what you're getting into._

Ralph nodded in understanding. _He just goes on and on, doesn't he? I appreciate getting that kind of information **before** going in though. Who knows what could have happened otherwise? _"Yeah, I get it. Thanks buddy," he said, not as rudely as you would expect. He even managed to crack a smile.

Alex nodded with a warm smile and zipped away, disappearing into the circuitry of the power strip.

"What a nice guy.. Well, shall we go in?" Felix asked cheerfully while walking inside slowly, then boarding a decently sized subway train. _This is leagues above anything we have in our game.._

"We get some rickety old carts and these guys get trains? **That's** fair," Ralph said in an annoyed tone as he stepped inside, followed by William.

* * *

**Author's Note:** If you're getting impatient for when Ralph meets Vannie, rest assured it's **soon** :p. It happens on chapter 10.


	6. They Insist

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

A moment earlier, inside Sugar Rush.

"And stay away from those damn **eggs**, we don't need a repeat of.. nevermind," Calhoun roared in a firm, demanding voice. _Nevermind having two amnesiacs running around by themselves, if even just one of those Cy-bugs get loose the whole arcade would be devastated._ She had a degree of confidence in her men's ability to handle the situation though. _Markowski could be a problem though.__ The man can't help but soil his pants if a cockroach even so much as sneezes at him. __And __Ralph is a wildcard.._

"Will do!" Felix happily declared while waving goodbye. He could barely be seen through the screen of Fix-It Felix Jr., even when Ralph was holding him up. They disappeared from the screen, going into the building.

"Should we have maybe told him it's been **30 years**?" Gene asked. _I see no reason not to have told him.._

"No, I think that under the circumstances, that would have been unwise," Clyde said calmly, "It's one thing to tell someone they've lost their memory. But 30 years is a **long** time, we should let it sink in a bit first."

Calhoun was still fixated on the screen of Fix-It Felix Jr., until in the corner of her eye she spotted Vanellope running out of the game. "Hey squirt don't run off on your own!" she yelled, running after her. _I can't take my eye off her for a second when Ralph isn't around._

"From Sugar Rush, adoi! The name is right there on the entrance!" Vanellope insisted, trying to glitch through some sort of forcefield at the entrance to Sugar Rush. _What the? Urgh.. Let me through, lady._

"Calm down little miss," a female surge protector said, "Just let me know where you're going and then you're free to go." _Maybe we shouldn't bother asking where they're going.. It's optional information anyways._

Vanellope sat down cross-legged with her arms crossed. _What else c__an I__ do? Well, aside from answering the question. __I__ might as well wait for Calhoun to answer those stupid questions since __we__'re going the same way anyhow._

"There some sort of **problem** here?" Calhoun asked firmly as she slowly walked closer. _Looks like you caught our resident troublemaker easily enough. I don't think I've actually seen a surge protector do something like this before.. Is Olsen just lazy?_

Slightly rattled, the surge protector took a step back and gestured for her to stop, and in an attempt to defuse the situation said, "I'm sorry miss.. Ah, Calhoun," noticing the name tag on the shoulder of Calhoun's armor, "There's absolutely nothing wrong, it's just protocol." _That is some nice armor.. Why did this have to happen on my first day of the job? Maybe I'm not cut out for this type of work after all. I don't know what I was thinking, accepting this job after taking that placement test. I could have had it easy turning a light bulb on when a refrigerator door gets opened or playing DVD's. But no, I had to be a __**surge protector**__._

"Protocol," Calhoun replied with a firm smile, "Alright, go on." _I guess since it's your job, I'll play along._ She crossed her arms and shifted her stance.

Hearing those four words, the surge protector untensed somewhat. _I can't let myself keep getting distracted like this. I'm a grown up now._ "Alright, umm.. Well I'm Ashley Belkin, the new surge protector here," she said as she shook Calhoun's hand. Calhoun's grip was a little tight, but nothing unbearable. "If I may have your full name and where you're headed?" _I should probably stop asking where people are headed though, really.. I'm not sure what they do with this information anyways._

"I'm Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun.. Fix-It, of _Hero's Duty_," she said plainly. _Well, Felix doesn't even know himself if that's his family name or not.._

"Okay, umm.. Hero's Duty.." Ashley said confusedly while writing it down. _There isn't a Hero's Duty on this power strip though.. Or did I miss one?_

Vanellope burst out laughing, to Ashley's surprise and further confusion.

Ashley looked at her in embarrassment. _Did __I__ say something stupid?_

"It's on the other power strip, across the arcade," Calhoun said dryly as her right hand gently stroked her forehead, "We're trying to get there now. There a way we can get there from here?" _There had better be, or this arcade is history.._

"Ah yes, I've been in contact with **Alex**, he's in charge of the other power strip," Ashley said with a nod, "We'll be working on a transportation system for that as soon as everything is taken into account. It shouldn't be more than a few hours _at __**most**_, please bear with it until then." She scribbling onto her clipboard and released Vanellope, who was still laughing, from the force field she had erected.

"Oh no, not **again**!" Ashley yelled, zipping to the entrance of _E-Z Livin'_. A fight broke out. _This is the f__ifth one __I'm __split__ting__ up since being plugged in. Why d__o __**I**__ have to keep an eye on such a rowdy bunch?_

"Haaahhh.. **Duty**," Vanellope said with a smile as she got to her feet and dusted herself off, "Well I ain't gonna just _stand around_." _Ralph needs my help. When he sees this adorable winner in person, I'm sure he'll snap out of it._

"Maybe we don't have to," Calhoun said as they headed towards the outlet, "Come on, it's not that far."

As they got there, there was a sudden alarm which signaled Ashley to return, slightly freaked out. "Alright, if you **insist**," she said nervously, "but I'm coming with you. One zap from those cables.. it won't be pretty." _Those things are ____**lethal**__, even to game characters. __There's a reason there are trains and the like, you know?_


	7. What's Up With Him?

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Quite a smooth ride, eh Felix?" Ralph said wryly, "Think they'd mind if I 'borrowed' it?" _It's going to bother me forever, how we have a rickety mine cart railway while these guys get this huge subway train._

"I don't think it works like that, Ralph," Felix said jokingly. _I know how you must feel. Ours was clearly not made with you in mind._

"And even if it **did**, I'd have to give you a citation," William said jokingly. _You may think I'm just joking, but I'm serious._

Gunfire and Markowski's screaming could be heard ahead, which made them stop in their tracks.

"Why do they always go after meEEAAHHHH?!" Markowski screamed, before being eaten in one gulp. _Make it stop.._ His entire sense of being quickly eroded and twisted into one of what he fears most: bugs.

It's horrifying, getting eaten every game, early on, even. More so it's traumatizing, remembering every time it happened. Worst of all, none of this was even his fault. Running aimlessly and screaming was deeply ingrained into his code when in the presence of bugs. This is the reason that Calhoun didn't suspect a thing when Ralph was masquerading as Markowski on that fateful day. At most it was surprising that he managed to survive longer than the 'first person shooter', though it was Ralph's fault the first person shooter died in the end.

The battle went on for a short while until just before Ralph's gang finally decided to enter the room.

Since the game was programmed to reset after the first person shooter died, it allowed itself to be destroyed whenever it deemed that there was no chance to reach the top, which was rather early considering Calhoun was not there to give orders.

The beacon activated and all of the Cy-bugs, Markowski included, flew into the light of the beacon and disintegrated. There was finally a chance for the soldiers to respawn and rest for the rest of the day, since they didn't have to replay the title screen anymore.

"Take it easy Markowski," one soldier said while chuckling to himself. His last name, as could be seen on his armor, was Loya. He had a blond buzz cut.

Markowski didn't even turn to look at him as he walked away from where he respawned, near the bridge. _He couldn't possibly understand. __It's in__ his code __to be__ a cut above __most of us. I just have it the worst.. _"I'm gonna go get some air!" he said frustratedly while walking towards the exit and taking his helmet off. _Ralph.. I should bump into him on the way out.. No, that'd be __**too**__ obvious. The guy never even said sorry for the crap he pulled five months ago even though he's had plenty of opportunities. He probably doesn't even have any idea what hell Sarge put me through after Tapper helped me out of the closet._

Ralph looked back at Markowski as the latter left, not having witnessed the battle that just took place. _What's up with ____**that**__ guy?_ Of course, he also didn't recall ever even meeting Markowski.

"Felix! Ralph!" Kohut yelled cheerfully, "What brings you here? We thought Sarge was with you."

The soldiers were oblivious to the cross-game conversation that went on earlier with all the Cy-bugs taking their full attention and their game volume is rather loud when compared to some others.

After Felix and Ralph looked at each other, Felix said, "Ah, yeah she's probably on her way here now I'd imagine." _I'm not sure why I immediately assumed 'Sarge' is a gal, but it seems right for some reason._

Ralph was standing dangerously close to a Cy-bug egg, staring at it intently. He then looked up at the tower where the beacon was housed. _I get the feeling I should leave it be.. This place is giving me a headache anyway, I'm gonna get out of here, at least for a while. _"Felix, William, you two go ahead and wait in here if you want," he said casually, "This place is giving me a headache. Too many triangles or something." _No point in staying here from the looks of things anyway._

Ralph left the game and sat down near the entrance of Hero's Duty. _No alarms or intrusive questions this time, just the way I like it._

Alex simply nodded and scribbled into his clipboard before zipping away. _Let's not bother with it. It's not necessary in the first place. Sometimes I think that our training is just a bit too draconian._

"Tomorrow's races can't come soon enough," a cheerful man's voice rang out, laced with excited laughter, "Oh, what's the matter son? You seem down. Here, have some candy."


	8. Markowski's Lament

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Markowski sat alone in Frogger thinking. _I can't keep going like this. Am I really meant for so little? __I've __never even made it to level 20, let alone the top of the __tower__, and that was only thanks to some skilled players who kept __me__ alive that long at the expense of letting others die.. _He pulled a slip of paper from his left boot and stared at it intently. There was a code written on it that he got from a guy he met in Tapper's months ago.

* * *

It was the night after Calhoun had figuratively ripped him to shreds for having his armor stolen and getting locked in a closet. He was having a much needed drink after a hard day of being eaten repeatedly.

"Heyyy, bromigo," an especially chatty character from X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2 said. Unlike most other characters from his game, his dialogue did not solely consist of repetitions of 'good' and 'like it'. "Another hard day of killing bugs and climbing the building?"

"Yeah! Pretty bad!" Markowski said, "Worse than you can imagine." _Everybody knows by now. No reason to keep quiet about it, as embarrassing as it is.._

"It's all good bromigo, I got just the thing for you," the man said, "It's called cheats, man." He pulled out a piece of paper with a code written on it.

"I've told you before, soldiers do **not** cheat!" Markowski said as he furrowed his brow. _Do you have to ask every time you see me in here?_

"Woah, **easy**, bromigo, you're a little too loud, man," the man said somewhat nervously as he looked around, "There's nothing wrong with a little cheat here and there. Think about it. Without cheats, we would not even be having this conversation. How could I express my thoughts if all I could say is 'good good good, haha, like it like it like it'? Ain't nobody got time to write all the time, it's such a bummer."

"I see what you're saying," Markowski said, "but we soldiers are supposed to embody bravery, integrity, grace under pressure, and above all, **dignity**.." _Admittedly I don't have bravery or grace under pressure when it comes to bugs.._

"That's why I'm saying, bromigo," the man said with a smile, "Use this code, and you **will** embody those traits. It's all good." He handed Markowski the code. "Trust me man, it will fix **everything**." He could see that his case was made, so he continued to explain. "In the center of **every** game, there's this hidden room. It may not be so easy getting there, depending on the game, but I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"I'll think about it," Markowski said as he stood and placed his helmet on before walking out.

* * *

That day had long since passed, and until now Markowski hadn't felt so strongly that he needed to set things 'right'. _But co__uld something as small as a piece of paper really change __my __fate? And even then, the other soldiers would probably try to stop __me__. Rule number two is to stick to the program, after all. It's the only thing that kept __me __from trying it all this time.. __B__ut by this point, what's the **worst** that could happen? Surely it couldn't be worse than being ridiculed to __my__ face day in and day out.. __I__'ll do it.._

Markowski tightly gripped his helmet and put it back on. _All I need is a small boost, yeah. I won't change it that much.._ He tucked the code back into his boot and his stomach lurched at the thought of being caught. _How would __I__ explain where __I'm__ going? What if they follow __me__ after getting suspicious? Maybe __I__ shouldn't do it after all.._

Markowski returned to Hero's Duty. Ralph was no longer at the gateway by then, not that Markowski knew anything about that.

Inside, Felix was listening to his 'new' friends telling stories, after having explained the situation after Ralph left. By then he was wearing armor that the guys had made for him a while back, with the exception of him still wearing his prized hat.

Markowski glanced into the gameplay area where they were sitting and swallowed hard. _This __i__s __my __chance._ He grabbed a cruiser from the armory and slipped through, flying around aimlessly for a while. _I do__n't want to head directly __there, wherever it is__._

They all saw him, of course, but none of them cared about where he might be going, except for Loya and Spears. They didn't say anything though. They were all licensed to use cruisers after all, so what reason could they give to stop him? None of the Cy-bugs were active since they didn't have to worry about 'playing' the title screen.

* * *

"This is it, dead center," Markowski said as he looked at the GPS on his sensor. It was inside the church. It was in a town that was technically supposed to be on Earth, unlike the rest of the game. _It's a good thing nobody is here. I didn't plan this far ahead.. I don't know what reason I would use to be here should anyone ask questions.._ He groaned as he saw where the code room was hidden, a confessional room. _Just how bad are they going to make me feel about fixing my life?_

Inside the room was nothing like what Markowski expected. There was nowhere to sit, there was no priest. It was just a hallway filled with tubes of flowing green light leading to a single giant door at the end that resembled some sort of gamepad. Upon reaching the door, he nearly tore the code as he quickly pulled it from his boot. _That would have been just my luck._

"Forgive me.." Markowski said with his eyes closed. He could feel a lump in his throat that he just couldn't get rid of. He opened his eyes, and with a deep breath he entered the code. _Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start.._

The giant door opened, exposing the code of Hero's Duty. He could immediately feel that there was no gravity inside, despite not even going inside yet._ It's too late to turn back now.._ He 'swam' inside.. _I should be good as long as the door doesn't close. But what's with this place? _He looked around for any signs of where to begin.

After a time, he finally located his 'file' and said, "Okay, so what do I do now?" He tried shaking it. _Nothing._ He turned it all over looking for a place to plug any sort of device in.. _Nope, __still __nothing._ Finally he tried tapping it a couple times with his left hand, being left-handed, and it finally opened. _Nearly scared the __crap__ out of __me.._

There wasn't much there. No medals or anything. But what he **did** find was two things. His character profile and something called a 'changelog'. He didn't read the latter as 'change log', but as 'chan gelog'. _What kind of nonsense is 'chan gelog'? I'm sure this profile is what I'm looking for.._ He tapped it twice, having quickly mastered that ability. _As I thought, that's what made it open.._

Everything there was either a textbox or drop-down selection. Somehow he could understand some of it, like 'FoB rating' is how likely soldiers are to retreat a bit when in close proximity to bugs. 'CA rating' is how appetizing Cy-bugs find them. Characters not wearing armor are regarded as 0.

While Hero's Duty is a 'rail shooter', the player's movements decided for them aside from shooting, these settings allow for limited randomization of the game experience based on what the player does.

(Drop-down selections are indicated by [v] while textboxes are [] surrounding the field.)

* * *

Name: [Leon Markowski]

Accuracy Rating: [10]/100

CA Rating: [25]/25

FoB Rating: [90]/100

Dialogue: Markowski1 [v]

Bio: [(To summarize, a bug jumped on his face when he was a kid and a few things happened here and there that don't amount to much in relation to the plot. There was also a sentence that stood out at the end.) Yeah, he also pees himself when really scared.]

Survival Unlock: [None], [None] Code: [None]

(There would be a code you could enter at the start of the game, allowing you to unlock a slightly different gameplay experience to add replayability.)

* * *

Markowski shuddered. The memory of that spider still burned bright in his mind. _That last line is off. The developers may be so uncaring as far as I know, but the way it's worded.._ _This can't be right.. What was that other thing? 'Chan gelog'.._

* * *

Character Profile modified October 23rd, 2012 7:25:38 AM (Let's say this is the day the game was plugged in, after a couple of games.)

Summary of changes:

Accuracy Rating: [10]/100 Previous: [84]/100

CA Rating: [25]/25 Previous: [8]/25

FoB Rating: [90]/100 Previous: [33]/100

Bio: [(Worded identically to how it was above.)]  
Previous: [(The same minus the line that stood out.)]

Survival Unlock: [None], [None] Code: [None] Previous: [Markowski2 Dialogue], [5% higher ammo capacity]. Code: [XG8K5VN]

* * *

Markowski clenched his fists. _Unbelievable.. __W__ho __did__ this? __**Why**__?!_ _It ha__s__ to be something more than just a sick developer's joke._ He quickly went back to his profile and undid the changes. He took out his radio and sent a secure transmission to Calhoun.

"Ma'am, we've got a **problem**," Markowski said in a dead serious tone. _She needs to know about this. I'll explain later.._

"What is it Markowski? If this is another bad dream, I'll have you on toilet detail," Calhoun said firmly with Vanellope in her arms, currently traveling through the arcade's wiring on her cruiser with Ashley. Ashley had her hands extended above and below, forming a force field around them preventing the electricity from turning Calhoun and Vanellope into nothing.

"**Much** worse, ma'am. I'll explain later, but someone has been messing with our code," Markowski said, "I'm doing my best to fix it, but I think it would be best if **you** have a look yourself."

Calhoun let it sink in for a moment before responding again, "Stay put and don't let **anyone** else in, I'm already on my way."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay so I kind of wanted the files to feel like actual files when writing this. I think I did alright on that. There were lots of details that I considered, but didn't feel like fully thinking them through enough to write them out. And I'm not that confident I could make up every detail you would expect in a character profile either. Hopefully this made it seem more realistic though.


	9. Trial and Error Coding

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"She said stay put.. She didn't say **not** to keep fixing it.." Markowski said to himself. _She's actually putting trust in me._ He felt so happy that he had tears welling in his eyes. He long blinked before wiping them away. "Alright.. So that fixes **me**, but what about the others? Wait, maybe the one responsible is in this game.. I didn't think about that before." _One more reason to stick around.. It will take too long to look through every single character though.._

Markowski began looking around for anything looking out of place. There was something resembling an ammo crate, distinctly different from everything else he's seen in the code so far. He tapped it, to no effect. _Huh.. I wonder what this is? _"There must be some kind of way to open this.." he said. _I don't want to risk breaking anything by shooting at it.._ _It'll have to wait._ "Anything different.. different.. Agh, why couldn't I have been made **smarter**?!" _There has to be something else, some detail I'm missing. _He randomly opened and closed a few files, including the one for Cy-bugs, but didn't find anything especially interesting as far as he could tell, missing its changelog in his perceived race against the clock.

"Sorry guys, I'm gonna have to invade your privacy after all," Markowski said, opening Kohut's profile first. _As expected, his ratings are all top notch._ _No 'chan gelog' there._ "Guess I'll look for these 'chan gelog' things.. Sarge, negatory. Marco, negatory."

He let out a sigh of relief with each file without any changes. At last he came to Loya's file, it was of a slightly different color, but otherwise exactly the same as the others he saw at first glance. However there was a changelog in this one, as well as a bunch of random things that shouldn't have been there, from what he's seen so far. There were things like trophies from games that don't even exist in the arcade anymore. Food Fight, Agent X, Star Wars, Battlezone.. **Turbo Time**..

He recognized the name Turbo_._ _It couldn't __**possibly**__ be him. It wouldn't make sense. He died taking a diet cola shower __months__ ago. __**Months**__ ago.. No, the times still don't match up. Our code was changed before he died. **Before** he died..  
_

As Markowski looked at the changelog, he noticed there was a change made merging Loya's file with another, named **Jet**. _This goes beyond changing a few numbers.. And what does Jet mean anyway? How the heck do you __**unmerge**__ files once they're __**merged**__?_ He clenched his teeth and reluctantly closed the file without changing anything. _I might break something.. I might break __**him**__.._

"Agh.. I'll just wait until Sarge gets here," Markowski said, punching the file with the side of his right fist. An options menu popped up. "I am awesome_.._" He chuckled in disbelief. There was an option 'Unmerge Files', among others. _This is **exactly** what I'm looking for._

"I **win**," Markowski said with a big grin on his face, tapping 'Unmerge Files'. Loya's file hissed as it suddenly changed to the same color as the rest of the soldiers' files he had seen so far, but he didn't see this Jet file anywhere. _Where is that other one? _Unknown to him, it was at the opposite end of the codes, separate from almost everything else, having a mere two connections to the game.

* * *

At that time, Felix and William were in the shooting range with the other soldiers. It was a room off to the side connecting to the armory. They were being shown how to use the Multi-Mode Rifles developed by the deceased Dr. Brad Scott.

Suddenly Loya began glitching into red code and a slender character in a blue jumpsuit and grey skin split off from him. The grey-skinned man quickly ran off before anyone else had a chance to react. What happened didn't quite register with them at first, but it's not every day you see someone split off from your buddy.

"**I'll** grab him!" Spears yelled to the others, chasing after the guy, to the exit of Hero's Duty.


	10. When Ralph Met Vannie

**Author's Note:** To help keep the two differentiated, I've given the older Vanellope the nickname Vannie, though Ralph will come to the conclusion of using that name on his own later on.

* * *

This was back when Ralph was sitting at the entrance of Hero's Duty.

"Tomorrow's races can't come soon enough," a cheerful man's voice rang out, laced with excited laughter, "Oh, what's the matter, son? You seem down. Here, have some candy."

Ralph looked at the guy strangely. He was an old man with a crown atop his head, a purple coat, and his pants resembled a small pillow with yellow stripes on it. _Who's this guy? A crowned clown?_

"My momma always said not to take candy from strangers," Ralph quipped, staring at the strange old man. A girl standing near the old man laughed, bringing Ralph's attention to her. She looked just like that kid from Sugar Rush, who from **his** perspective, was 'talking smack' to him. But she was much older, much taller, her head would reach up to his chest had he been standing. _Maybe the game's screen __was __playing tricks on __me.._

"Stranger?" the old man laughed, "I'm no stranger my boy, I'm King Candy, rightful ruler of Sugar Rush."

Vannie stamped on his foot. _Technically __**I'm**__ the rightful ruler, Dad.._ She smirked at Ralph with great interest. _This guy is interesting.. Kind of reeks though. Is he a hobo?_

"Ouch! And this is Vanellope von Schweetz, my daughter," King Candy said excitedly. He pressed a small candy into Ralph's hand. It was **easily** dwarfed by the size of Ralph's hands.

Vannie fought the urge to ask him about it. _Why are his hands so freakishly big?_

"It's not chocolate is it?" Ralph asked as he stared at it. _I'm not really in the mood for candy, but I'll take it.. I don't want to insult these guys. I may be a Bad Guy, but I'm not a bad __**guy**__.._

"No no, Werther's Original," King Candy said with a chuckle, "It's caramel."

"Hey, you're not a hobo are you?" Vannie asked sheepishly. _Sorry, I have to ask.._

"Dear, that's **very** rude," King Candy said chidingly, "I'm sorry about that.."

Vannie scoffed and crossed her arms then looked to the side briefly. _I knew I should have kept my mouth shut._

"I am **not** a hobo!" Ralph said in an annoyed tone, "Well, I live in a tree stump, but it's comfortable enough.." _R__ude question to ask someone you've just met. Heck, even someone you've known for a while. __Why did I add that I live in a tree stump? They don't need to know that.. _His face felt hot when he was hit with a sudden surge of embarrassment. Vannie laughed, which only made things worse. Ralph was nearly getting angry when he was distracted by King Candy's words.

"Why don't you come with us for a while?" King Candy asked cheerfully, "We were just on our way back."

"Go where?" Ralph asked, somewhat rolling his eyes. _Your daughter insults me and you expect me to follow you just anywhere?_

"Why Sugar Rush 2, of course!", King Candy said with an excited laugh, "You're sitting right next to it." He pointed upwards at the sign.

Ralph sighed. _There __i__sn't really anything __I'm doing right now __other than waiting, so __I guess__ it c__a__n't hurt. __I'm sure Alex will__ tell the others where __I'm going. _"Alright," he said while getting to his feet, "I'll take you up on that offer." _I hope **this** game is more reasonable.._

They each grabbed a candy go-kart a ways inside the entrance to get to the game. Ralph didn't know how to work the controls, as if his hands and feet would allow it anyway, so he instead just used his hands to propel the kart forward. He was always good at using his hands for some reason. Especially for wrecking. Luckily the wires were well insulated, otherwise he'd have gotten more than just nasty burns on his hands to say the least.

While 'driving', Ralph came upon a sudden realization. _How am I going to stop? _When it came time to do so however, Ralph managed to not wreck something for a change as he used his hands to come to a spinning, skidding stop. _I'm not tempted to try that again any time soon.._

Vannie smirked and crossed her arms as she watched his display of 'skill'. "Not bad, uh.. What's your name again?" she asked. _I guess it was too much to expect him to drive, what with those ham-hands.._

"Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph," he said plainly. _I guess I should have said so sooner when they introduced themselves.. But they also should have asked sooner, so it's not __**all**__ my fault._

"Oh! You're the guy that was yelling earlier!" Vannie said with an excited smile, "I was **wondering** what that was all about." _You __**are**__ going to tell us, right? I didn't quite catch it all.. We just heard a bunch of yelling. But **your** voice I remember.  
_

"Yes, tell us my boy. We were all **very** curious," King Candy said curiously with a warm smile.

"I guess you're the new game that got plugged in," Ralph said with a sigh while running his fingers through his hair. The two nodded and smiled. "The owner had to replace the surge protector because it was old or something, and there wasn't room for another game anyways. For one reason or another my friend Felix and I stayed back in our game and our memories were wiped with its highscores." _I guess I can call Felix a friend at this point anyways.. It sounds right.._

"Poor boy, losing your memory," King Candy said earnestly as he patted Ralph on the arm, to Ralph's slight annoyance, "That aside, **not** that it's **unimportant** mind you! Let's give you a tour! Oh, but I'll drive you this time, no offense."

King Candy entered a code just inside the entrance of the game at what appeared to be some kind of parking garage. The door slid up to reveal a four-seated kart which was coated with white sugar sprinkles, giving it a shimmering look.

King Candy suddenly got excited as they got in and he drove the three of them off towards the castle with Ralph's **feet** sitting in the back seats.

Vannie was sitting in the front passenger seat laughing to herself at Ralph's ridiculous size compared to them. **Especially** compared to her extremely short father. _This guy is just too much.. This is great!  
_


	11. Risky Transit

This was just before Markowski sent his transmission to Calhoun.

"Umm.. So how to do this, I wonder," Ashley said worriedly, "We don't have any sort of transportation ready yet, and walking will be **impossible**."

"Whaddaya mean? **You** got here just fine, didn't you?" Vanellope pointed out. _Are you just being lazy?_

"It's a bit different," Ashley said softly, "These wires would instantly **kill** a game character if they ever came into direct contact. I'm not made of pixels like you guys, we surges are made of electricity, the very thing that will kill you if you step out into the outlet unprotected."

"Well I've got my cruiser," Calhoun said confidently, "Vanellope and I will just fly there." _You can lead the way so we don't get lost._

Ashely shook her head and said, "It wouldn't keep you safe from the electricity arcing around inside.." _Come on, Ashley think. You were trained for this.. There has to be some-_ "Oh! We **can** use that, yeah.. If I use my force field to bend the arcs away from us.." _If we were walking it would be impossible, because I would run out of __stamina__ too fast to keep it up the entire way. Plus the extra electricity.. But with her **cruiser**.. This just might work!  
_

Calhoun took the cruiser that was resting on her back and set it down. It was a bit small for three people.

"I'm going to need some space to do this, Ashley said sheepishly, "Can you hold Ms. Vanellope for the trip?" _Sorry, I know it's awkward to ask.._

"What?! What am I, a **child**?" Vanellope asked in an annoyed tone. _Well actually.._ She sighed in frustration. "Oh.. Well just this once, but don't get any ideas, alright!" _I don't want to be seen being carried around like a little kid after a long day. It's different with Ralph.._

Calhoun picked Vanellope up and held her in her arms, with Vanellope's legs wrapped around her for support. They were mortified. Luckily for them, Ashley was the only one who could see them in this condition.

Vanellope and Calhoun were synchronized in their thoughts on the matter. _We__ might have to shut her up later.._

"Ma'am, we've got a **problem**," Markowski's voice rang out from Calhoun's radio. She let go of Vanellope with one hand to take her radio out. Luckily there was no video feed present at the time, otherwise this would have been a nightmare come true.

"What is it Markowski? If this is another bad dream, I'll have you on toilet detail," Calhoun said firmly. _What is it this time?_

There was a slight bump. A particularly strong arc of electricity pushed them to the side a bit. Ashley was trying her best to keep them stable, with difficulty. Her hands were extended above and below, keeping a spherical force field around them which prevented the power from turning Calhoun and Vanellope into nothing. _This is harder than I thought it would be.. Please let us make it in time.._

"**Much** worse, ma'am. I'll explain later, but someone has been messing with our code," Markowski said, "I'm doing my best to fix it, but I think it would be best if **you** have a look yourself."

Calhoun let it sink in for a moment and said, "Stay put and don't let **anyone** else in, I'm already on my way." _How would he of all people find out about something like that? And why is he there already before even contacting me about it? _She shook her head. _No.. He may be an idiot, but he knows better than to do anything to hurt our game. And he did tell me about it, albeit a bit later than he should have._

"Sounds like someone's gone Turbo," Vanellope said seriously as she squeezed closer into Calhoun. _I hope this Markowski guy is able to fix whatever got messed up.. I know better than **anyone** what it's like to have your life ruined by some guy messing around in code rooms. 15 years living alone in a volcano, being rejected by people who were meant to be my friends, chased by people who were meant to be my guards.. I'm just glad I have Ralph now.._

The three finally got to Game Station West. By then all of the games had their signs fixed up.

Alex had gone through the trouble of entering a few games himself, as there didn't seem to be anyone entering or leaving them. He wasn't too worried about that, however, as he understood the situation as noted from private Marco, the soldier he had met before.

Alex zipped over in a flash as soon as he heard the alarm set off as Calhoun and Vanellope arrived.

Vanellope was no longer being carried, much to her relief. _Tammy is oddly comfortable despite wearing all that armor._ _I almost fell asleep. She can forget about **me** ever saying that though._

"Quite risky, coming through like that," Alex said in a serious tone, "Luckily it seems you got through safely." _What would you have told the Source if they had died as a result?_

"Sorry!" Ashley pleaded. _I know it's against our training to put game characters at risk like this, but if I didn't help them they would have tried anyway and they really would have gotten themselves killed.._

"Don't apologize," Calhoun said firmly as she took a step forward and crossed her arms, "**W****e're** the ones at fault here."

"I.. I've got to hurry back," Ashley said nervously, "I'm sure my colleague can help you find your game." She almost instantly zipping back to Game Station East.

Alex didn't hear, since he was distracted, but an alarm went off at Hero's Duty as Spears chased the man in the blue jumpsuit out, and into Sugar Rush 2.

"Sorry about before, I'm sure that you have your reasons," Alex said while composing himself, "I'm Alex Belkin.. If I can just have your full names and where you're headed, you're free to go." _I'm just legitimately curious what was so important that you had to risk dying to get here so soon.._

"Belkin?" Calhoun said inquisitively while looking back at the exit, "She your sister?"

"Ah, no, about that.. It's the brand name," Alex said, "We use brands as last names to identify where we work, usually when dealing with other surges." _It's just a formality, really._

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz," Vanellope said as she hastily began listing off the requested information, "and she's Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. We're going to Hero's Duty. Can we go now?" _Ralph needs my help. We don't have time for this. And then there's also Tammy's game in danger._

"Hmm.. I already have a Vanellope von Schweetz listed here," Alex said confusedly, looking through papers on his clipboard.

"Huh?" Vanellope asked in confusion, "There's only **one** of me.." _Is.. Is someone pretending to be me? The person who messed with Hero's Duty?  
_

"Kid, look up at the sign over there," Calhoun said plainly as she pointed, "Sugar Rush **2**." _I never would have guessed that the game Litwak got was a sequel to Sugar Rush. I couldn't see it from Sugar Rush's console at all. Litwak just had to be so secretive about it..  
_

Vanellope's heart fluttered as the excitement mounted inside her. _N-no.. Ralph comes first._ She shook her head. "I'm from the **first **Sugar Rush," Vanellope said as calmly as she could. _What am I like in the sequel, I wonder? I don't feel like asking this guy. We're wasting time here.. I'll find out soon enough. I __**really**__ want to take a look right now, __b__ut when I find Ralph and snap him out of his daze we can check it out together! __That's definitely the best way to go, yeah.._

"Of course, thank you for your cooperation," Alex said with a smile. _I can tell that I will only make people annoyed if I continue with questions like this.. At least I don't have to warn them since __Ms. Calhoun__ here is wearing similar armor._ "By the way, a Felix, Ralph, and William have already gone inside." _At least I'm pretty sure Ralph must have gone back inside. I didn't notice him get up.._


	12. First Priority

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Ugh, my head," Loya said as he stoked his temple, sitting in the barracks of Hero's Duty. He vaguely remembered everything that had happened, but it was all fuzzy, and it was coming into focus slowly. It was as if he was never in control of his speech or actions. Like watching a movie from 'Private Loya's' perspective.

"Who was that guy?" Kohut asked. He directed it at Loya specifically, but he wouldn't argue if anyone had an answer. _If anyone knows, it would hopefully be you.._

Vanellope decided to sneak out to Sugar Rush 2. _I don't have time for this. They have it under control, I'm sure. My first priority is finding Ralph. He'd have to be in Sugar Rush 2.. I'm sure I've got to be in his brain somewhere, and with that being the case, he's bound to come looking for me._

"I have no idea," Loya said contemplatively as he struggled to find any memory that would help in any way. He gave an account of the first thing that came to mind. "The first thing I can remember is waking up in this weird hallway with tubes of light all around.. In the church, I think." He took a deep breath. Recalling it only made his throbbing headache worse. "Spears came out of the next room.. It was all dark in there except for what looked like some weird boxes and wires. I think he said something like, 'Let's go, brother'. He had this sinister smile on his face.. Sorry, that's all I can remember about it right now.. I couldn't move how I wanted to after that, I was perfectly in somebody's control.. It's been like that since the day we were plugged in." _This headache is going to be the end of me.._

"Wait, Spears was the guy who followed after him!" Kohut yelled. _They're in it together and we let them get away!_ "We're going after them!"

Kohut grabbed his radio about to give a secure transmission to Calhoun just as she was running into Hero's Duty.

"Kohut, come with me, we have to get to the church, **now**!" Calhoun said firmly.

Felix's eyes fell on Calhoun for the first time in person since his game was plugged back in, and it sent shivers down his spine. "Jiminy jaminy.." he said in lovestruck shock, which made Calhoun smirk. _She's so beautiful.. But more so she's so.. so.._ He couldn't have put it into words, even in his head, but Calhoun carried herself with an air of such confidence and strength.. He was smitten instantly. _I'm already falling in love with her all over again.. The soldiers' stories didn't do her any justice._

"Ma'am, there were intruders," Kohut said seriously, trying keep it as brief as possible, "This guy in a blue jumpsuit was, uh, hijacking Loya's character somehow until just now. He ran off just a moment ago after splitting from him. Spears is chasing him now, but we're **sure** that he's being controlled as well."

"You fit for duty, Loya?" Calhoun asked firmly. _I know you just got out of hell, but we need your help on this one. You're programmed to handle stressful situations. All of my boys are. Until now Markowski was an exception, but now it seems like that may not have been the case after all._

"Yes Ma'am!" Loya yelled as he got to his feet and saluted. _I want to deal with this guy personally. Damn crybaby.._

"Alright, change of plans," Calhoun said firmly. She grabbed her radio to speak with Markowski. "Markowski, I need to you to fix **Spears**. I'm assuming you've done the same for Loya already.. And give me a location."

"Yes Ma'am!" Markowski said happily over the radio.

Calhoun's eyes turned to Felix. _What do I say to you? You don't even remember me.. In this situation, I.._

Before Calhoun could come up with anything, Felix stepped forward, brandishing the Multi-Mode Rifle the soldiers had him practicing with. He smiled warmly and took a deep breath then said, "Ready for duty, Ma'am." _If you'll still have me.._

Calhoun smiled. She tried fighting the urge to pull Felix into her arms, being in front of the men, but reluctantly allowed herself one hug. _That's the Felix I fell in love with.. Whether he remembers being with me or not. Always 'ready for duty'.. That innocent, sincere charm of his really gets my blood boiling._ "Glad to have you pint-size," she said warmly. _We'll have plenty of time to get you back up to speed later.._

The words 'pint-size' echoed in Felix's head. Unknown to them, somewhere in the depths of Hero's Duty's memory files, pieces of code had been downloading themselves into Felix ever since he had entered the game.

Felix suddenly remembered Calhoun complimenting his 'slick tiddlywinking' around while being shot at by the soldiers thinking he was a Cy-bug, that he had originally come looking for Ralph who had gone Turbo, and meeting Calhoun for the first time. He tried to remember more, but his head felt like it was on fire. He appeared to glitch, briefly turning into yellow code.

"Felix!" Calhoun yelled worriedly as she stayed knelt down in front of him, touching his forehead. Are you okay? _If something happens to you.._

"I'm.. I'm fine," Felix said with a pained smile, tenderly grabbing her hand into his, "I remembered something. When we first met.." _I want to remember more. I **need** to.._

"About the intruders, Ma'am," Kohut said to bring the issue back to light. _I'm glad that Felix's memory started coming back, but the longer we leave the intruders alone, the more likely it is that another game will be taken over._

"Markowski here," Markowski said over Calhoun's radio, "I fixed Spears, but I can't find his location. Are you **sure** he's in the game?"

"Negative. They were gone before I arrived," Calhoun said firmly with annoyed disappointment, "We'll just have to find them on our own." _That's just great._

"So uh.. should I stay in here?" Markowski asked apprehensively. _I'm not used to doing things on my own. It doesn't feel right unless I'm following orders._

"Sit tight, big boy, just don't fix it if it ain't broken," Calhoun said with a hint of appreciation in her voice, "I need you to hold the fort in case those guttersnipes return. And if they **do**.. Do what you have to. We're headed to Sugar Rush 2." _Logically speaking, Sugar Rush 2 is the most likely place those two would go. Not only is it the newest game, but it's also right next door._


	13. Vannie's Backstory

"I wonder where Ralph went," Felix said as they all took a seat in the train to leave Hero's Duty. _This armor is a bit uncomfortable. I don't wear this all the time, do I? It doesn't feel like that would be the case._

Calhoun sighed. _I hardly noticed he wasn't there, being preoccupied.. Come to think of it, Vanellope disappeared as well._ "We'll worry about that later," Calhoun said, "Wreck-It can handle himself, and Vanellope probably went to Sugar Rush 2 anyway.. How's your head?" _That headache isn't a good sign.. At least you're able to leave the game, I was worried about that when I saw you glitch.._

"Not to worry, my lady. I'm fit as a fiddle," Felix said cheerfully, his cheeks burning bright just sitting next to his **wife**. _I still can't remember anything else, but the honeyglow doesn't lie. I just have the privilege of getting to know her all over again._

It was a short ride, as always, leaving Hero's Duty. Alex was busy talking with other surges at the end of Game Station West, as they assembled a monorail for transport back and forth between the two power strips.

Without any delay they went inside Sugar Rush 2.

It was a sight to behold, the soldiers of Hero's Duty riding go-karts, made of candy no less, into Sugar Rush 2.

Marco had somehow flipped his kart over, messing up his red curly hair in the process. The kart flipped itself back over automatically, but the damage was done. Once inside, after they got out the karts, the karts drove themselves back automatically. Perhaps it was a sick joke, forcing people to drive themselves. Marco would later go on to complain to Alex, while pointing at his hair, and have it 'fixed' like every other game's tunnel transport.

"Fan out ladies, those scumbags are in here somewhere," Calhoun said firmly while grabbing her sensor to check the surroundings. The other soldiers split off into small groups and headed in different directions.

"Why don't we head to the castle and check with them?" Felix asked cheerfully. It's **their** game, they should be aware of the risks. _Although I get this weird feeling it might not be such a good idea.. But why?_

"Good point. If those maggots came in here they're probably headed there as well," Calhoun said in an annoyed tone. The two of them jumped onto her cruiser and flew across the candy cane forest and headed in the direction of the sugar cube-bricked castle.

* * *

Meanwhile, King Candy was finishing Ralph's tour of the castle.

"And **this** is the bathroom.." King Candy said sheepishly, "And that completes our tour of the castle." He laughed nervously. _I'm sorry, Ralph, but you do stink.._

Ralph nodded and crossed his arms. _He's saying I stink, isn't he? It's not my fault. It's in my programming.._ "It's a really nice place" he said plainly, "Never been fond of p.. salmon though." _C'mon, this is clearly pink._

Vannie looked to the side so that she didn't look either of them in the eye. _Now who's being rude, Dad? You're going to make him mad or something.. He may stink, but it's not **that** bad once you're around him for a while.._

"If you'd like, you can freshen up, and we'll have a meal prepared for you," King Candy said as warmly and nonchalantly as he could. _In a way, you're family, being from another TobiKomi game. I'll offer him a guest room for the night.. I can make him a place to stay in the game later. It would be better than leaving him homeless.._

Ralph sighed knowingly and shoved down the urge to get angry. _I knew it.. Life living in a stump surrounded by bricks doesn't lend itself to cleanliness. I'm used to the smell by now, but it's worlds apart from the scent of all this candy, in more ways than one. It kind of hurts to hear it, but at least he's **sort** of nice about it._

"Uhh.. Sure, I don't see why not," Ralph said dryly with a hint of annoyance, "Just remember, no chocolate." He entered the rather large bathroom. _The shower is surprisingly spacious, for normal-sized people._

Vannie went to her room to wait for dinner to be ready, while King Candy went sit on his throne-car and told Sour Bill to have Spicy Jill prepare a feast.

There was no spare set of clothes or anything set out for Ralph, a detail that they had all overlooked. _Like I could expect anything like **that**._ He sighed and simply took a shower while still wearing his one and only outfit, using this weird stuff called 'shampoo' and 'soap'. He hadn't taken a bath in over a decade as far as his programming as concerned, so it was an interesting experience for him. _It smells nice, but I know not to try eating it now. He spit out a small chunk of soap. Not everything around here is made of candy._

* * *

In Vannie's room, she was just laying in bed, looking at the high ceiling. _I wish I was out racing, but I can't leave while there's a guest. It would be rude. Besides, he's interesting. I wonder if everyone out there is like that.._

She got out of bed and walked over to her dresser, picking up a framed picture that was sitting there. It was a photo of her and her real parents, before they died in a crash when she was 9. She was too young to rule at the time, so her parents' advisor, Candy Kane was made king instead.

She smiled somberly as she stroked the protective glass, with tears gently rolling down her cheeks. The memory came flooding back.

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day. Vannie had just turned 9 years old that day. She was happily riding along with her parents, headed to the land of Adrenaline Rush chatting about how she can hardly wait to learn how to drive a kart in a few months with the other soon-to-be racers. She didn't have her trademark candy decorations in her hair, though her hair was still done up in a high ponytail.

"You're going to **love** it Vannie," Vincent von Schweetz said happily, glancing back at her. He had auburn colored hair and a five o'clock shadow. The crown atop his head bounced excitedly as they drove along the Hershey Highway.

"You'll be the greatest racer ever once we're through with you," Penelope von Schweetz said proudly. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail with candy decorations placed randomly, just like her daughter later would.

"I can't wait to show you what I've got," Vannie said excitedly, "I'll come home with the **biggest** trophy you've ever seen!" She spread her arms wide for dramatic impact.

Vincent laughed, looking back at Vannie warmly, "I can't wait to see it.. If it's you, **anything** is possible."

Vincent didn't see it in time to stop, but there was a large road block at the end of the bridge where construction was underway. The kart slammed into the road block **hard**. Penelope died instantly, having hit her head on the windshield. Blood oozed out of a gash in her forehead slowly. Vincent managed to survive for a few moments. Luckily, Vanellope was unharmed as she noticed in time to brace herself against the marshmallow seat behind her mother.

"Mom! Dad!" Vannie screamed as she got up from her seat, desperately trying to wake her mother. _No no no.. This can't be happening._

"Vannie," Vincent said weakly with a look of horror on his face.

"No.." Vannie said as tears streamed down her cheeks, "Dad, stay with me. We'll be **okay**. We just need to get to a hospital.." She trembled as she tried to wake up her mother again. "No.. Don't do this to me.. Mom, wake up.." She sniffled. _Please.._

"Vannie," Vincent said weakly as he swallowed hard, "I'm sorry.. I won't be able to teach you how to drive after all.. But you're a strong girl. You'll make us proud, I **know** it."

"Dad.." Vannie said, wiping tears from her eyes, only to have more tears take their place, "Please don't die.." _If I lose both of you.._

"I'm sorry.." Vincent said, using the last of his strength to give her one last hug, "I love you.."

"I'll show you, Dad.. Mom.." Vannie sniffled as she held onto her father's lifeless body, "I'll be the greatest racer ever!" She sat there until help arrived, sobbing quietly. _I'll show you.._

* * *

Vannie shook her head somberly and placed the picture back on her dresser. _I miss you two so much.. I'll make you guys proud, promise. Dad.. I mean, King Candy taught me how to drive, you know?_

The memory was programmed in, of course, but to her, it was as real as everything else.


	14. Purple Suit

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

King Candy sat there on his throne, scratching his head in thought. _There's something I'm forgetting.. Oh._ He broke out into a cold sweat when it dawned on him.

"Raaaaalph!", King Candy shouted as he jumped up and ran to the bathroom in a panic. He stopped in the hallway just in time to avoid slipping. _A trail of water, just as I'd feared._ "He couldn't have gone far.. Raaaaaaalph!" He hastily continued down the hall following the trail.

"What's with all the water?!" Vannie asked with a laugh. She was just about to go to the kitchen to see what Spicy Jill was cooking up and nearly slipped. She had braced her hands against the wall to avoid falling. _Is this Ralph's doing? That guy is nuts.._

"Vanellope, tell Salty Phil to clean up this mess!," King Candy said excitedly. He ran past her, nearly slipping again. He pointed in the air after stabilizing himself. "I'm on the hunt!" He laughed excitedly as he pursued his misguided guest. _I should have known he would have **some** kind of difficulty bathing._

"Where the heck am I? Must have made a wrong turn somewhere. Just had a tour of the place, too.." Ralph said to himself. _Well, if I keep going this way I'll probably just get more lost. I guess I'll head back the way I came._ He turned around and saw the long trail of water he had left behind. _Oops._

"Aha! Found you!" King Candy yelled with a laugh after turning the corner at the other end of the hall.

"Hey uh, yeah, sorry about the mess," Ralph said nervously. _I didn't think I was that wet.._

"Towels, Ralph! **Towels**! There were obviously towels," King Candy lightheartedly scolded Ralph. He cradled his temple. _There's simply no excuse for **that** much water to be dripping all over the place._ "It was my fault we hadn't prepared any clothes for you, come follow me." _He probably won't like this, but it's better than the alternative._

They made their way to a small room a few doors down which was connected to King Candy's private bathroom.

"Stand there and raise your arms up a bit," King Candy said while pointing at a pair of painted foot prints on the floor. He was standing by at a control panel.

Ralph reluctantly did as he was told while rolling his eyes, still tracking water all over. _What are you going to do? **Don't** make me regret listening to you._

"Yes, like that," King Candy said with a smile. _Hang in there, Ralph._

King Candy pressed a button and thin white walls came up around Ralph. He pressed another button and little robot claws came out of the ceiling, taking Ralph's measurements with a measuring tape. "You're doing good Ralph, hang in there," he said with a chuckle.

The claws suddenly took Ralph's clothes off before he had time to react and placed them in a nearby bin before retracting back into the ceiling.

"Hey!" Ralph yelled in protest. _That's the only clothes I've got!_ "I need that back!"

"We'll return it to you when it's clean," King Candy said jokingly, "There's nothing to worry about." He pressed another button, which made a large fan come out of the ceiling where the claws were before and gave him a rapid air dry before retracting. _This is how you get dressed after a bath in style, Ralph. Enjoy it._

With one final button press, the claws returned with a 'suit' in the shade of purple and forcefully put it on Ralph, evading several punches in the process. It was the strongest foe Ralph had ever met. The claws retracted one final time after moving in a 'tut tut' motion.

The walls came down to reveal one **very** unhappy Ralph. _What the heck is this?_ "When's dinner?" He asked grouchily. _Let me eat, and I'll be on my way.. After getting my clothes back. This is ridiculous. Who chose this outfit, you?_

"Not much longer now!" King Candy said with a smile. _Come now, Ralph. I know you've had it rough, but you're in good hands here._

In the hallway, cleaning up the mess, was Salty Phil.

"Salty Phil, clean up this mess! Salty Phil, unclog this toilet! Every day it's the same thing, it is," Salty Phil complained aloud. He was a giant salted peanut with little cashew hands and feet.

"Oh quit your whining Salty Phil," King Candy said with a laugh as he and Ralph walked by. _You know you enjoy it._

"Sorry about that, little buddy," Ralph said to Salty Phil, following closely behind King Candy. _First bath since.. However long. There's bound to be mishaps, right? What's worse is this headache I've been having._

"Boy's trouble, he is," Salty Phil said to himself, "Ahh.. I should'a been a sailor, like me father."


	15. Rancis and Taffyta

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

The kart ride into Sugar Rush 2 was a breeze for Vanellope, as could be expected of a seasoned racer. _Come on, kart.. Why won't you go farther than this?_ She sighed and got out, then watched as it drove back to the other end of the tunnel. _Fine, I don't need you, anyways._

Vanellope stared wide-eyed at the landscape of Sugar Rush 2. "Woah.." She said in shock before yelling excitedly, "Holy mother of monkey milk! This is amazing!" She glitched around, simply taking in the sights. _It's so similar, and yet so.. Sharp! I wish I had **kart** to drive around here. She glared back towards the tunnel._ "Oh, right! Ralph! Where would he be?"

It wasn't long before Vanellope's excited yelling attracted the attention of two people riding in a kart. As they approached, she immediately recognized who they were, though they were adults.

"Taffyta! Rancis!" Vanellope yelled excitedly. _All grown up! Hmm.. So we're adults in this game. And tall!_

"Vannie?! What happened? You're so.. tiny!" Taffyta asked while hurriedly getting out of her kart, "And **adorable**! You **have** to let me hug you!" She smiled widely. _I don't know what's going on, but this cuteness!_

Rancis was too amazed at seeing this somewhat rare side of Taffyta to do anything but smirk. It made his heart flutter. _If I could just get her to act like this more often.._

Vanellope hugged Taffyta, finding her reaction hilarious. _They must think that I'm the Vanellope from their game and shrank somehow._

Vanellope had become good friends with Taffyta, Rancis, and Candlehead especially, after the whole Turbo ordeal. Even though the racers in her game only apologized for how they treated her **after** realizing she wasn't really a glitch, but the **princess**. She couldn't blame them entirely. It was all Turbo's fault to begin with, putting the idea in their heads that she would get the game unplugged if she were ever allowed to race.

"You don't have to worry about this," Vanellope said with a chuckle, "I'm from the first Sugar Rush, across the arcade." _As funny as her reaction is, I should tell her now in case she starts to worry._

"I **knew** it had to be something like that," Rancis said confidently, breaking his silence. _You know I'm lying, Taffyta. It makes sense though._

Taffyta smiled at Rancis incredulously. _You are so full of sugar._

"We haven't been out of the game yet. What's it like out there?" Taffyta asked sweetly. _I'm curious.._

"Kind of like a mall, I guess?" Vanellope said contemplatively. How else could I explain it? "Kind of empty right now though, since pretty much everyone is in the other power strip because everything had to get unplugged for a while."

"Aww, I guess we'll check it out later then," Taffyta said disappointedly, "Hey, you wanna come race around with us? Oh.. but I guess you don't have a kart.." _We can fix that easy though.._

"I was just thinking it'd be nice if I had one.." Vanellope said sheepishly, "Are guests allowed to cook one up?"_ Is it done the same way in this game? I see the karts are bigger, even compared to the ones that outsiders make in our game. No matter what, ours only seat one, these have four seats.._

"Oh, I don't think **anyone** would mind if **you** had a kart," Rancis said warmly, "But it's fine for just about anyone to have a kart. Is it different in your game?" _Why wouldn't you be allowed to have a kart?_

Vanellope smiled and shook her head. _That was true in the past, when Turbo pretended to be some character named King Candy. But I quickly changed that when I became president._

"Alright, well I don't know how it is in your game, but at the entrance you might have seen a garage off to the side," Rancis said as he pointed to the small candy themed garage.

"No, I missed it," Vanellope said with a smile as she turned to look. _I was so busy taking in all the **awesome** scenery that I didn't even notice it._

"Well that's not where they're made anyway," Taffyta said with a smile, "There are garages located at certain parts of Sugar Rush that will always have your kart in it, so long as you have the code that they give you when you make it. It doesn't make much sense, but it kind of just deletes it from wherever it is, and poof, there it is in the garage, just like new."

"Nice! So where do I make one?!" Vanellope asked excitedly. _Sorry, Ralph. I'm getting sidetracked, but I might find you along the way. I just **need** a kart to get around here._

"Hop in!" Taffyta said just as excitedly. They got in Taffyta's kart and sped off, headed to the Kart Bakery. _This is going to be so fun._

* * *

Later on, something wasn't adding up for Ralph as he looked across the dinner table to Vannie. _The more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense that she didn't know my name at first. I distinctly remember 'her' saying my name sometime before that orange ghost told me and Felix to go to Hero's Duty. And she was smaller then, too.. too.. **2**.._ "I'm an idiot," he said aloud by accident while he firmly pressed the palm of his hand onto his cheek, resting his elbow on the table. _This game is a sequel, so of course the arcade probably has the first one as well._

"Well I could have told you that," Vannie said with a laugh, "Who forgets to dry off after taking a shower?" _Sorry, I can't help but laugh. It's so silly.._

Ralph sighed uncomfortably. _I wish you wouldn't bring that up. And it's bad enough I'm wearing this weird suit. It fits perfectly, but it's purple, no matter how you slice it.. At least the food is good. I expected it to be candy._

"So how is it, Ralph?" King Candy asked cheerfully, "It's imported straight from **Adrenaline Rush**." He laughed. "I bet you expected candy." _I would be surprised if you didn't._

The chef, Spicy Jill, entered the dining room pushing a cart with the main course on it. She resembled Sour Bill, but she was red and less perfectly round.

"It's delicious," Ralph said with a smile after carefully taking a bite. The utensils seemed to do all the work for him. Or rather the game downloaded how to use them directly into his brain. _I was so sure I would break the table or forks. Why three forks anyway? Wouldn't one be enough? I'm lucky I can even pick them up at all._

Spicy Jill was quite flattered by Ralph's continued praise for her cooking. "Such a nice young man," she said to herself warmly as she returned to finish preparing dessert. _I must remember. **No** chocolate. _She giggled.

Suddenly sounds of someone knocking at the front door could be heard all the way to the dining room.

"Now I wonder who that could be," King Candy said. _I'm not expecting any guests.. Ralph is the only person Vanellope and I have met outside of the game besides the surge protector, and the racers wouldn't normally drop by unless it's important.._

* * *

**Author's Note: **Spicy Jill's theme is Red Hots.


	16. Candlehead and Jubileena

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Earlier, as Felix and Calhoun were flying over the Candy Tree Forest, she was telling Felix about the time they had fallen into Nesquik Sand, and how Felix bravely sacrificed his face for the sake of their escape.

"Jeepers. It's a good thing that Laffy Taffy was hanging there," Felix said awkwardly. He tried forcing himself to remember again, but just as before, he briefly glitched into yellow code. He lost his balance and started to fall off the cruiser.

"Felix!" Calhoun shouted as she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer, "Don't force it. **Now's** not the time." _We're high up you know? Plus we're chasing someone._

"I'm sorry, I just.." Felix replied hesitantly, "I **really** want to remember. About you. About myself.. And Ralph, he must be having a hard time on his own." It pained him to think about it. _One of the few things I do remember is what I did to Ralph for 30 years. How could I have been the kind of person to turn a blind eye to, and even participate in the exclusion of Ralph like that? I don't remember him well, but I know my father didn't raise me to be a man like that. I'm certain of that much._

"He'll be **fine**," Calhoun said insistently, "You may not remember, but you saw it yourself how he saved Sugar Rush.. the **first** one. He was ready to give up his life to save Vanellope when both of us had given up. He won't let something like this bring him down, I'm sure of it." _Ralph is one of the few people, aside from Felix and my boys, whom have earned my trust. He can still be a clumsy idiot at times, but he comes through when it counts._

"Tamora~," an unfamiliar voice on her radio said menacingly, "Or should I call you 'Sarge'?"

"What name do I put on your death warrant?" Calhoun asked venomously.

"Oh come on, ma'am, don't be like tha~t," the voice said, "Put on video, I've got something I want to show you."

She reluctantly pressed a button on her radio. "That's better~.." he said as if he were talking to a child. He had grey skin with yellow eyes and teeth, and was sporting a blue helmet with a white stripe going down the middle. He was also wearing Spears' armor. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was one of the lowlifes that infiltrated Hero's Duty. "Call me 'Set'.. It's been a long time since I've gone by that name," he said ominously.

"If you're calling to beg for mercy, you're going about it the wrong way," Calhoun said firmly, unflustered by his attempts to get under her skin.

"Ple~ase, I've been to your **wedding**! Surely we can talk about this civilly," Set said, "Hello, Felix. I'm glad we had that talk earlier."

Felix laughed nervously. What is wrong with this guy? He gives me the creeps.

"I'll cut to the chase, as I can see you two are busy," Set said with a grin, "As you can see **here**.." He turned his radio to reveal an unconscious Spears wearing just his underwear. He had several doodles drawn all over his body and face as well.

"Spears!" Calhoun yelled. _This guy is going to pay dearly._

"Oh, he won't be waking up for a while, I don't think," Set said callously, "We know what you're thinking: 'Oh if we can get to the castle and warn them, they won't be able to take over another game!' Right?!" he laughed. "I wonder what is more important to you, Tamora. Your **soldier's** life, or two people you've never met?"

"Hey! What are you doing over there?!" a female voice faintly cried out over the radio.

"Well, it was worth a try.." Set said with a sigh, "Let's keep in touch, Tamora. It's always a pleasure." Just like that, he cut the signal and drove off in the kart belonging to the Candlehead from Sugar Rush 2. Candlehead was knocked out on the ground nearby, tied up with black licorice rope. She'd been surprised while replacing a tire.

The Jubileena from Sugar Rush 2 drove over to where Set had been just a moment ago. "Candlehead, are you okay?!" she asked while untying the licorice and then shaking Candlehead until she woke up. _This is no time to sleep.._

"Hmm? Is it morning already Jujube?" Candlehead asked groggily, rubbing one of her eyes. _Jujube was a nickname that Jubileena only allowed Candlehead to use._ "Eww, who's this naked guy?" she shrieked while getting to her feet. _I don't need to see that when waking up.. And why was I sleeping here?_

Calhoun and Felix soon arrived, after looking around for where he'd been.

"Sorry to bother you.." Calhoun said, somewhat mortified. _Spears is not in a fit state to fight by any means._ "Could you two do us a favor and get this man to a game called Hero's Duty? It's right next to the gateway to this game. We have to go after the little maggot who did this."

"Only if you do us a favor in return," Jubileena said firmly, "Give him one for us too." _I don't think I could take him personally, but you mean business.._

The two girls picked him up, no easy task mind you, and placed him into the back seats of Jubileena's kart laying down. She and Candlehead drove off to the exit. _But before leaving, Jubileena stopped at the garage._

"Put your code in Candlehead," Jubileena said, "As if I'd let him keep using your kart." _We'll slow him down as much as possible.._

Candlehead nodded and put in the code for her kart on the control panel on the side of the door, removing it from its previous location, and placing it in the garage. _I'm not so sure I get what happened, but Jujube is serious._

"**That'll** show him," Jubileena said in an annoyed, yet satisfied tone, "Come on, let's get this guy to his game." _Why he's almost naked and has drawings all over him is beyond me, but it's none of my business._


	17. Locking the Door

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Jubileena parked her kart in the entrance to Hero's Duty, just past the gateway._ It wouldn't be smart to bring it any farther. If not for the big train in the way, then because of the sparks.. At least I get to experience a train ride. No such thing in Sugar Rush.._

Jubileena and Candlehead grabbed Spears from the back seats of the kart and just barely managed to pull him out, though they accidentally dropped him once he was out, which made them wince. Luckily for them, they figured, he was a sound sleeper.

"This guy is so heavy," Candlehead whined, trying not to even look at him as she and Jubileena carried him into the train. _It's not that he's repulsive or anything, this is just so awkward.. Why do we have to do this? Couldn't he have at least had clothes on?!_

Jubileena didn't seem to be having so much trouble, however. _I really shouldn't stare.._

They placed him on the floor of the train since there wasn't exactly anywhere else to put him. There weren't any seats for some reason. They stood at the other end in case he woke up, not wanting to be caught looking at him.

They got out once the train stopped and carried him out.

"Let's bring him to that room," Jubileena said as she nodded in the direction of the barracks, "Armory sounds too much like armor. It's probably a place to keep armor and stuff." _I don't know **what** barracks are.._

"Okay.." Candlehead said with a slightly strained voice. _Let's just go.. Almost there. Almost there. Almost there!_ She nearly lost her grip on his ankles several times.

A sound echoed in the gameplay area of the game. It sounded as though someone was talking, but they couldn't really understand what was being said. Markowski had started the intercom.

"I think that's how it works anyway," they could faintly hear Markowski say in a hushed tone before it got louder, "Uhh.. Hey there."

"Who's there?" Jubileena asked looking around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. _I'm not one for disembodied voices.. It's creepy._

"Oh, this might be better, help me out here FPS," the Markowski said. Soon after, the FPS came rolling through with a video feed from Markowski displaying on its screen. "Did Sarge send you?"

Candlehead walked around the room, carefully examining the world of Hero's Duty, taking in as many details as she could, while still halfway paying attention to Markowski on the FPS. _I'll let Jujube do the talking.. This place is so different._

"Yeah, if you mean that blonde lady in the armor," Jubileena said dryly. _That came out a bit more rude than I wanted it to.. Why do I do that?_

Candlehead picked up a Cy-bug egg and started gently caressing it. _This is pretty cute. I wonder what it does.._

"That's her," Markowski said with a nervous chuckle, "Uhh.. **Please** be careful with that. **Really**. Don't drop it, just place it down **slowly**.." _I don't want civilians getting attacked by Cy-bugs. Besides, Sarge would lose all respect for me aside from that. Especially if they were doing her a favor by being here. They're pretty cute, too, now that I can see them more easily._

Candlehead did as she was told. _I guess I shouldn't touch this stuff.._

"What's the big deal about these eggs?" Jubileena asked callously, "And why are you talking through a screen instead of talking to us in person?" _And don't tell us what to do, either._

"Following orders," Markowski said, "Making sure nobody messes with the game while Sarge is away." He straightened up his back.

"Do you really have to worry about something like that?" Candlehead asked while biting one of the strings of her pink hoodie. _Is that a common occurrence?_

"Affirmative," Markowski said seriously, "There were two body snatchers.. Er.. No, it's nothing." _I shouldn't go telling everyone this stuff._

"Care to run that by me again?" Jubileena asked, unimpressed by his answer. _You're not good at keeping secrets, are you?_

"Alright, **fine**. Just don't tell Sarge I said anything," Markowski said reluctantly. _Them knowing can't hurt. It's not like they're completely uninvolved by this point anyway._ "There were these two guys from another game that took control of two of our soldiers. Nothing to worry about though, I fixed 'em. But they could come back." _Still haven't found the files that were merged with Loya and Spears after splitting them up.. Are they even still in here, I wonder?_

"So one of them is the guy Sarge had us bring here," Jubileena said. _Sarge is an odd name.. I guess ours are probably out of the ordinary to them too in that case._ "She's chasing one guy down right now." _What about the other one though?_

"What if they don't come back for a long time?" Candlehead asked softly while walking closer to the FPS, "Will you still just sit in there waiting? Isn't that kind of boring?" _I wouldn't be able to stay awake.._

"Yeah, pretty boring.. But if I were to leave here, who knows what could happen?" Markowski said, "The whole game could be eaten by Cy-bugs and that'd be the end of the entire arcade as far as I know. As a soldier, I can't simply leave my post. It'd be different if this place wasn't so easy for just anyone with the code to break into."

"If it's such an easy code, then could you maybe change it to something harder?" Candlehead asked softly. _I don't know if that's how it works, but it's worth a try, isn't it?_

"What's a Cy-bug anyway?" Jubileena asked. _You never did explain.._

"I hadn't really thought about that.. Could I change the code?" Markowski wondered aloud, "Anyway, Cy-bugs are these big.. **bugs** that mutate into what they eat, they hatch out of those eggs there." He shuddered slightly even just thinking about it. _Still freaked out by bugs, but at least now it'll be manageable._

"Eww, and I **touched** that? Gross!" Candlehead said as she furiously wiped her hands on the front of her hoodie. _Warn me sooner!_

Markowski laughed somewhat to himself. _I shouldn't laugh. I was worse._

"Wait, isn't that like **way** more dangerous than what you're sitting all by yourself for?" Jubileena asked.

"Well, kind of, but the eggs won't hatch unless someone breaks them or if it's game time," Markowski said. He had been floating around looking for any file that had the word code or password on it. There was a little camera following him inside the code room which was what was broadcasting video to the FPS.

"What are all those little boxes in there?" Candlehead said, squinting at the screen. _There's words on some of them._

The FPS got a little agitated and backed away from her. It never did like people getting in its personal space.

"The game's source code," Markowski answered, "Oh, hey here it is, I **can** change the code. What to change it to I wonder.."

Candlehead and Jubileena looked at each other and shrugged.

"What's your name anyway?" Candlehead asked curiously. _I almost forgot to ask._

"Markowski.. Well, that's what most people call me anyways. You can call me **Leon** if you want." _Since that's my first name._

He scribbled the code 'B A Up Down Left Up Right Down B A Start' on the other side of the paper the old code was written on and changed the code in its file, then stuck the paper in his boot. Luckily he had to input the new code twice, as he messed up the first time.

"I'll be right there ladies, just give me a moment," Markowski said happily.

Jubileena wasn't too happy about the tone he said that in. _Oh joy.. I hope he doesn't keep **that** up. I need to relax, he probably didn't mean anything by it._

The door slowly closed behind Markowski after he left the code room. It took a moment for him to get used to gravity again.

Without wasting time, he flew his cruiser over to the gameplay area. _Why is the gameplay area even still open? Is it because I used a cruiser to get to the church instead of a shuttle in the hangar?_

"Man, it feels good to be out of that place," Markowski said happily, stopping his cruiser near them. He lost his balance while getting off of it and landed back first onto two Cy-bug eggs, making them hatch. "**Run**.." _Just my luck.._

"Good luck!" Candlehead screamed as the two girls ran to the armory. _At least he doesn't have to worry about dying since he belongs in this game.._

Markowski freaked out, swatting the baby Cy-bugs off of him and yelling, "Gross!" _Way too gross. _Luckily for him the babies couldn't do much more than cling onto things, so he managed to take them out in a few shots after finishing his mini panic attack. "I hate bugs!" He squirmed as though he could still feel them climbing on him. _I'm fine.._

Markowski composed himself, walking out of the gameplay area and locked it off using a separate code on a nearby control panel. He then took out his radio to contact Calhoun. "Ma'am, I locked the door, can I go out and play with you guys?" Markowski asked confidently.

"You'd **better** know what you're doing, Markowski," Calhoun said firmly, "We're in Sugar Rush 2. Is Spears awake yet?"

"Sleeping soundly, ma'am," Markowski said as he walked into the barracks. _You know he sleeps like a rock._

"Let me give him a wake up call," Calhoun said with a sigh. _He's napped long enough._

Markowski placed the radio next to Spears' ear and said, "He's on the line."

"Cy-bug 6 o'clock!" Calhoun yelled as loud as she could.

Spears practically jumped out of his skin and looked around. Then looked at himself, mortified. _I.. What the hell?!_

"I hope you had a nice nap, Spears. I need the two of you back in Sugar Rush 2 ASAP," Calhoun said firmly. _I know he has to be awake after that._

"Yes ma'am!" Spears yelled. He walked into the armory without another word, grabbing another suit of armor and putting it on. _I could die right now.. Please don't look at me like that.. Why are girls here in the first place?_

The girls were itching to go, not wanting to spend another minute there. They weren't exactly sure why they even stayed after those eggs hatched.


	18. Ralph and Vanellope's Reunion

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Well don't worry, Sour Bill will catch that," King Candy said while trying to ignore the knock at the door. The door could very faintly be heard opening, and closing shortly after. He listened intently, one eye to the door behind him, expecting whoever it was to reveal themselves. He gave up after a moment when it became apparent no one was coming. "Nevermind then.. So tell me Ralph, what's your game like?" _I'm curious._

"Mine? Uhh.." Ralph said hesitantly. _I didn't expect **that** question._ "Well, how do I put this? It's not nearly as graphically impressive as this one, that's for sure. It starts out with me going to sleep in my stump." He had the urge to wince as he said it. "So anyways, this bulldozer comes along and pushes it to this big pile of bricks and broken building parts." Again, he wanted to wince. _Why a stump? I couldn't have had a broken down cabin after 12 years?_

"What?! That's **terrible**!" King Candy said in a shocked tone. _Not only living in a stump from the beginning, but to also get pushed from your property into a **dump**. What absolute nerve!_

Vanellope stifled her laughter, but Ralph could see she found it quite funny. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh," she said sheepishly. _I feel bad for laughing, promise.._

"Right.." Ralph said with a sigh, "So anyways, when that happens, I yell at them for moving my stump and go over to this giant apartment building they built in place of my stump and scream, 'I'M GONNA WRECK IT!' and proceed to do just that. Quite well, I might add. I'm quite the professional at wrecking things, believe it or not." _They don't call me Wreck-It for nothing._

"So that's why you're Wreck-It Ralph, then," Vanellope said with a chuckle. _I did hear you yelling that until the arcade owner left._

"Right. So I'm having a good time destroying the apartment, and then my counterpart, Fix-It Felix Jr., arrives to fix what I'd broken," Ralph said, "He yells, 'I can fix it!', while brandishing his golden hammer that magically fixes things. It was handed down to him from his father, so the story goes."

"He must be quite strong as well. Gold is quite heavy, you know," King Candy said seriously.

"Hmm.. Well I guess you could say that. But he's actually pretty scrawny and about yay high," Ralph said while putting his hand quite low to the ground, "And I'm not so sure he could bring himself to hurt a fly to be honest."

"So you beat this guy up, right?" Vanellope asked intently. _I would.._

"Yeah, well sort of," Ralph said with a chuckle, "I had climbed up the building some by then, and he's near the bottom. I keep banging on the building, which makes bricks come down, which Felix is meant to avoid while fixing the door, windows, that sort of thing."

"So how do you win?" Vanellope asked. _You have to hit him with a lot of bricks or something?_

"Well, technically I'm not meant to win, since I'm not the character being played," Ralph said with a smile, "After a while Mary bakes a pie and a Nicelander puts it out on a window sill for Felix that he eats to get a power-up that makes him immune to damage and increases his speed long enough to fix just about everything on the game screen. I climb up higher doing the same thing until we reach the top of the level."

"So the big battle starts at the top then, right?" King Candy asked moving his hands in a fisticuffs motion. _This Felix guy ought to get tossed off the building, judging by Ralph's size._

"Well no, I wouldn't call it that really," Ralph said, "If Felix doesn't run out of lives before then, I get tossed off the building and land on the ground in a big puddle of mud. It's not the most dignified way to go, I'll be honest." _But that's life._

"Well that's.. That's just **wrong**!" King Candy said in a disgruntled tone, "That the game would have the player take the role of the Bad Guy.. What are they trying to teach these kids?" _No wonder he smelled bad though, being thrown in mud.._

Ralph laughed and said, "Well actually I'm supposed to be the Bad Guy." _I do like that logic though._

"So wait.." Vanellope said confusedly, "They forcibly relocate your home and steal your land, and expect you to **not** retaliate? How does that make **you** the Bad Guy? If it was me heck yeah I'd wreck the place!" _I'd beat the stuffing out of Felix in that position.._

Ralph smirked at her. _She's getting more worked up over it than she has any need to.. These guys are good people after all._ "It's fine though, really," he said insistently, "Felix is a pretty nice guy. I don't know about the others. Memory loss and all." He gestured with his hands. _I haven't met them personally since getting plugged back in. I can't blame them for doing something they're programmed to do._

Suddenly there was a knock at the door again, more intense than the previous time.

"Well now who could **that** be?" King Candy said, snapped out of his imaginings of what Ralph's game must be like. _Sour Bill, get that.._

A while passed and the knocking persisted.

"Sour Bill! There's someone at the door, you know?" King Candy said in an annoyed tone, "I'm going find him, because I'm certainly not going to answer **my own door**." He got up and stormed off to search for Sour Bill.

"He gets like that sometimes," Vanellope said with a laugh, "I'll go get it. Go ahead and finish your steak." _It'll get too cold otherwise. Not that you have much left._

Ralph looked down at his plate. _I was so busy telling my story I forgot. What's wrong with me? He took another bite. It's still delicious, despite going a bit cold. How does Spicy Jill do it?_

Ralph could hear two people shrieking all of a sudden. _I'm glad I'm not at ground zero.. But if that goes on much longer it will definitely make this headache worse._ He sighed a sigh of relief when it didn't continue.

Ralph then heard Vannie and someone else talking excitedly. _Should I get up? He gulped down the last bits of steak._ He started to get up to see what all the excitement was about when all of a sudden Vanellope came in the room, holding Vannie's hand.

"Ralph!" Vanellope yelled excitedly before glitching onto his chest and giving him a big hug. Well, as big as she could muster with her small size. "So you really **were** here, you son of a gun! And what's with the suit?" She investigated the purple suit with interest. _It doesn't suit you at all.._

Vannie raised an eyebrow. _What was that she did just now? And I wonder how she knows Ralph.._

Ralph laughed nervously with his hands in the air and wiggled his fingers. It was the first time he'd ever been hugged, as far as he could remember. _I shouldn't touch her in case I use too much force to get her off of me. This isn't her game. She might get seriously hurt. Or die.. What's this feeling though? It's like I should know who she is, but.. I just can't remember her at all._

"So umm.. how do we know each other?" Ralph asked with a nervous smile. He didn't exactly think about how he should word that. _The words just came out on their own.._

"You really don't remember **anything**?" Vanellope asked somberly. _I thought without a doubt you would remember me as soon as you saw me again.._ When the realization that he'd really and truly forgotten **everything** hit her, tears started welling up in her eyes. _No, Ralph.. You can't forget me.. Please remember.._ She pushed her face into his chest, partially to hide the fact that she was crying as best as she could.

Vannie couldn't help but feel like crying as well, seeing her younger self so distraught. _That's so sad.. Ralph can't help it because of his memory being wiped, but.. It's clear he means so much to her.._

"Sorry," Ralph said softly, "Well, I know your name.." _Does that count? Well, at least I'm pretty sure she should have the same name as her.. I made her cry.._

"That doesn't count," Vanellope said with a sniffle, "You already met **her**, so you can't count that." _Are you falling in love with her? You're all cleaned up and having dinner.._

"Ah.." Vannie said embarrassedly. _What should I say? I don't know how I can make this situation any better..  
_

A frustrated King Candy came back in the room.

"Well I couldn't find Sour Bill anywhere," King Candy said with a deep sigh and sat down in his chair. Then his gaze fell upon Vanellope. "Oh my.. Vanellope? But.." _How? I'm speechless.. I guess she's from the first Sugar Rush game._

Vanellope gasped and glitched behind Ralph, holding onto his leg while peeking around him. He was her first **and** last line of defense. _Ralph doesn't remember me, but he will **definitely** protect me. Nothing can stop him.. I don't know how Turbo is alive, but I **won't** let him take advantage of this situation._

"What's the matter?" King Candy asked earnestly. He slowly got out of his seat and started to approach her. "Don't you recognize me?" _It's okay, Vanellope.._

"Oh I recognize you alright, **Turbo**," Vanellope said bitterly while tightly holding onto Ralph's overalls. _You even tricked older me this time.._

"Turbo? Who's that?" Vannie asked King Candy. _Why does she hate you? I know I didn't accept you as a father right away as a kid, but.._

"I- I haven't got a clue," King Candy said somberly. His whole body felt hot from the humiliation of being rejected by his adoptive daughter. _Who is Turbo? Nothing comes to mind.. She should recognize me as her adoptive father not this Turbo person.. _He sat back down in his chair and massaged his temple.

"Look, kid. You made him feel bad," Ralph said chidingly in a soft tone, "I don't know what this Turbo thing is all about, but this guy's game was just plugged in so you must be thinking of someone else." _I don't mean to make you upset. I definitely don't. But I can't let you be mean to my friend like that.._

Vanellope's grip on Ralph somewhat loosened. _I can't believe it, but how could that be wrong? I saw Turbo die with my own eyes that day while I was falling.._

"Now say you're sorry," Ralph said softly as he leaned down, then rubbed the top of her back as lightly as he could. _These hands don't make this easy. I hope I'm not hurting her.._

"That's not fair Ralph.." Vanellope said as she wiped her eyes with her hoodie, "If you **remembered**, you would understand." She took a deep breath to help her calm down. "I'm.. sorry." The words came out slowly, and she nearly choked on them. _If Ralph says so, then I'll give this guy the benefit of the doubt. But I've got my eye on him._

Oblivious to the mood, Spicy Jill came in with a food cart with three ice cream sundaes on trays. "Oh my, had I known we have another guest.." she said.

"No.. it's fine.." King Candy said dejectedly and waved her off, "She can have mine, I'm full." He tilted his head up as if to look at the ceiling and closed his eyes. _Thank you, Ralph.. I don't know how better to have handled the situation._

"Come on, you can sit by me," Ralph said to Vanellope while patting a nearby chair after pulling it closer. _If there's one person in the world I don't want to see hurt, it's you.. I've felt this for a while now.. Why is that?_

Vanellope slowly sat in the chair without objecting. _I'm not hungry though.. Please remember me soon, Ralph.._ She continued to cry softly as she took a bite. _It's good.._


	19. Devotion

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Vannie looked down at her empty sundae dish. _How I managed to finish this given the mood is anyone's guess.._ She sighed. How_ can I lighten the mood? Ralph cleared up the misunderstanding, but it's obvious my younger self is still on edge. I don't know what would have happened if it weren't for Ralph.. _"So who's Turbo?" she asked softly. She felt a wave of regret hit her as the words came out. _It needs to be gotten out of the way. Maybe if we know the whole story I can find a better answer._

King Candy opened one eye to glance over at her. His head was still tilted to the ceiling. _Must you really ask that now?_

Vanellope and Ralph looked up at Vannie, then all eyes were on Vanellope. She shrank down into her chair for a few seconds collecting her thoughts. _How do I answer that?_ She blew at her bangs, but it was more like a sigh.

"**Turbo**.." Vanellope said bitterly, "He's a liar and a thief.. Since the day my game was plugged in, he broke into my game and messed with the code." There was a short moment of silence before she continued. "He took my place as the ruler of Sugar Rush and tried to **delete** me from the game. When that failed, he turned **all** of Sugar Rush against me. I was pushed around, chased, they threw me into mud.. And they would always break my karts if I ever tried to race.. All with **his** face." She pointed at King Candy. "It went on like that for **15 years**." She may have been perpetually 9 years old, as far as her code was concerned, but it really had been 15 years since her game was first plugged in. She shut her eyes tight as the tears continued to flow and took a deep breath. Having to recount the events in her head to explain it to her older self was taking its toll.

Ralph scratched his chin in thought. _I can't remember any of this, but as her friend I have to help her. Even if I don't remember her at all, it's obvious she depends on me. I can't let her faith in me go to waste.. I probably have a lot in common with her, even aside from the getting thrown into mud part._ He pulled his chair away from the table as gently as he could so as to not wreck it. "Hey, come here," he said softly while gesturing for a hug. _I don't know how I'll feel if she doesn't want a hug.._

Vanellope glitched onto his chest and hugged him tightly. _**This**__ part of Ralph is still the same. Thank you, Ralph._ She took a deep breath, almost feeling as though she could fall asleep. _I can't though. Not until Ralph has his memory back.. Why did I have to stay up the whole day?  
_

Ralph carefully placed his hand on her back, still not completely confident he could control his strength. He could feel tears welling in his eyes as he thought about everything that had happened to her. _Her tears must be contagious.._

Vannie swallowed hard as she too began to cry. _That's so tragic.. Ralph, you're such a sweetheart, aren't you? You don't even remember her, and yet.._ She sniffled. _I'm so glad she has a friend like you..__  
_

King Candy let out a sigh as quietly as possible. _I don't know what's up with the teleporting, but at least I finally know it's not something I did personally.. But someone took my identity from the first game and did something so soul crushing to her.. _He clenched his teeth at the thought. _It's unforgivable._ Tears streamed down his cheeks as he inwardly cursed his inability to do anything about what happened.

Ralph looked at both Vannie and King Candy, blinking away his tears. _Now everyone's infected.._

"Do you know where we can find this Turbo guy?" Ralph asked as rage began to boil inside of him, having run the scenario through his mind. _I'll take care of it. You won't have to worry about him anymore.._

"You took care of him already, Stinkbrain," Vanellope said softly while still hugging him tightly, "I was just surprised, seeing his face again." _I need to make it up to that guy somehow. Accusing him of something like that.._

Vannie nodded contemplatively. _Now I know why she has so much adoration for him. You're amazing, Ralph.._

Ralph sighed. _I was looking forward to wrecking his face.. Well, not King Candy's. Turbo's.. And I guess she doesn't mean Stinkbrain as an insult when she says it. It's more like a nickname, I guess.  
_

"I'm sorry, Vanellope," King Candy said earnestly, "I had nothing to do with it, but I **promise** you, that nothing like that will happen again. He was a complete** monster**, but he's gone now." _Ralph took care of him! Way to go, son.. Aside from being TobiKomi, I knew there was just something about him that set him apart from others. That and the smell. But the smell can be easily taken care of._

"It's okay.." Vanellope said without turning to look at him, "Thanks." She was conflicted about this new King Candy. _As long as I'm not looking at him, he seems like a really nice guy. He's nothing like the __**other**__ 'King Candy'._

"Dear, I'm going rest. Can you take over for me?" King Candy asked Vannie. _This has me exhausted, and I'm making her uncomfortable.. _She nodded and King Candy left the room to go take a nap.

Vannie watched as Ralph comforted Vanellope. _On top of all he did for her, he still has so much devotion to her _e_ven after losing his memory__.. I think I'm **falling** for this guy. Yeah.. I wonder if he has a girlfriend yet.. I've never even thought about going out with someone before, but if it's someone like him.. _She got up out of her chair and walked over to them. "If you still have time.." she said softly, "Would you like to go for a race?" _If she's anything like me, racing should help cheer her up.. And I want to spend as much time as I can with these two.. Maybe I'll find a chance to ask him out.  
_

Vanellope sniffled. _I need to calm down._ "Sure.. But Ralphie, really? What's with the suit?" she asked with a laugh. _I can't let myself keep crying like this, I'm making them upset too. I even made the good King Candy leave..  
_

Both Vanellope and Vannie laughed at the purple suit Ralph was wearing. "That's Dad's sense of taste for you.." Vannie said with a grin. _She's putting on a strong front. I don't blame her.._

"Come on, it's not like **I** picked it," Ralph said with a chuckle. _I'd like to get out of this as soon as possible, but I don't know when __**my**__ clothes will be ready.._


	20. Kart Bakery

**Author's Note:** This scene probably should have been done sooner, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise for chapter 18.

**Additional Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Vanellope, Taffyta and Rancis reached the Kart Bakery. It was still being guarded by Beard Papa, but there were no 'No Glitches' signs anywhere. Just the way Vanellope liked it. Not that she was a glitch anymore by any means. Her glitching was simply a part of who she was by then.

"Well what's this? Princess?" Beard Papa asked surprisedly. _Why's she so tiny? Well it's nothing to worry about I'm sure.. Kids these days have all sorts of weird abilities. Even King Candy can make an endless supply of candy if he wanted to._

"Can you open the bakery up for us, Pops?" Taffyta asked sweetly, "We need to get this sweetie a kart."

"Of course, right this way," Beard Papa said with a chuckle as he pressed a button to raise the candy cane barricade. He walked them over to the door and unlocked it for them. With the flip of a switch the lights turned on.

Had Vanellope not been to the kart bakery several times in **her** game since the Turbo incident for fun, she would have been a little apprehensive coming here, even with Ralph. _Hang in there, Ralph. I'll be done in a minute. _It was remarkably similar to the Kart Bakery in the first Sugar Rush game. The developers rightfully didn't want to take out a popular game mechanic. Vanellope looked at all of the kart types and chose the one she was most familiar with, the same kind she used in her own game.

"Welcome to the Bakery! Let's bake a kart!" a loud voice rang out accompanied by music, "You have **one** minute to win it!"

"Alright, one minute," Vanellope said to herself with excitement. She ran to the controls and threw away the trash, while adding the good stuff to the mixing bowl. She'd gotten used to predicting when to turn the wheel that controlled how the platform turned.

"Batter up!" the voice rang out again as the giant mixer came down to mix the ingredients before pouring it into the kart mold.

Vanellope laughed, remembering Ralph and the first time she made a kart. _I wish Ralph were here though.._

"Baking! Pump up the heat and hold the perfect temperature!" the voice rang out once again.

She ran over to the next stage of making the kart. It was different than in her game. Instead of manually pumping, there were two buttons that had to be alternately pressed at a certain rate to get the temperature just right. "Oh, they changed it!" she yelled happily. _This is the part I like least from my game. It's so tiring, jumping on the pump._ Her arms were a little tired by the time it was baked.

"Decorating!" the voice rang out once more.

She carefully aimed and shot the wheel dispenser 4 times. Then came her favorite part.. She randomly shot at everything else. Teal colored Frosting like her hoodie, orange and purple star-shaped sprinkles fell onto the kart with no real pattern.

Taffyta smirked with one eyebrow raised and looked over to Rancis who was doing the same. _This Vanellope is a little more capricious than the one we already knew.. Or maybe she really is like this and we never noticed? We only just got plugged in after all.._

"Times up! Congratulations, you did it, and **here's** your kart!" the voice rang out one final time. The door raised, a few sprinkles rolled out before the finished kart, but nothing on the scale of what it would have been like if Ralph was at the controls.

The kart rolled out, another piece of art in Vanellope's eyes. To be honest it actually wasn't bad. It was evenly iced with the teal frosting, and it had pink lining in addition to the sprinkles it was littered with. The seat was a bent devil creme and the steering wheel was a pretzel.

"Yes!" Vanellope yelled excitedly, completely satisfied with the end result. _If only Ralph were here.._ She sighed, rather than fawn over her new kart further. A slip of paper printed out next to the kart oven giving her the code. "Thank **you**," she said sweetly as she grabbed the code print-out and stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie.

An electronic readout on the code dispenser read, "You're Welcome!"

Taffyta noticed Vanellope wasn't quite as happy as she expected her to be and asked, "Hey_,_ what's the matter?" _I expected you to yell, 'I love it!' several times for some reason.._

"I just remembered the reason I **really** came here to this game," Vanellope said with a sigh, "Ralph.. Uh, my friend lost his memory and might have gotten lost in this game, so I came here to look for him." _I wish he could have been here to help me make this kart. He could have added his usual flare to it.._

"Well what does he look like?" Taffyta asked softly, bending down to hug her. _Cheer up, baby girl.._

"He's kind of big like a gorilla," Vanellope said with a laugh, wiping her eyes. She wasn't quite crying, but her eyes were starting to water. She continued to describe him, using her hands as a visual aid. "He's got these **big** hands that are like, bigger than me. He's got this orange and red plaid shirt and burgundy overalls with only one strap hooked." _What else to add?_

"Hey, didn't we see that guy headed to the castle with-" Rancis said before being cut off. _I've been cut off._ He chuckled.

"Oh yeah! He **is** here, sweetie!" Taffya said excitedly, pulling herself out of the hug to look Vanellope in the eye. _Sorry Rancis, I didn't mean to cut you off like that._

"He **is**?!" Vanellope asked, perking up instantly, "Hmm.. Sorry Taffyta, can we maybe race some other time? I gotta knock some sense into him." _I can't make him wait anymore.. But he's at the __**castle**__? I can meet myself too while I'm at it! I guess he __**does**__ remember me, at least partially._

"We understand," Taffyta said sweetly, "Would you like us to go with you?" _We've never really gone there before, but Vannie and I are good friends.._

"Nah, I'm good," Vanellope said confidently. _You two probably already have something planned. I don't want to butt in._

"It was nice seeing you," Rancis said warmly. _I wonder how little Taffyta and I are doing.. I'll have to meet them soon._

Vanellope waved goodbye and drove off to the castle. _Hang onto your overalls, Ralph! I'm on my way!_

"Alright you two, go play somewhere _else_," Beard Papa said gruffly. _I have a mess to clean up and I don't need to get distracted._

"Bye Pops," Rancis said jokingly as he and Taffyta went outside and got into her kart. He had his own **somewhere** of course, but he preferred to ride with Taffyta when they weren't racing.

Beard Papa humphed, not turning to look at him. He went back inside and grabbed a broom and dustpan from a closet. _Alright, time to get this mess cleaned up. I sure could use some cream puffs about now._

Taffyta and Rancis drove off to 'Sugar Beach' to relax. They had been racing all day thanks to Litwak.

Vanellope drove up to the castle and parked her kart next to another kart that was already there. It was Reese's peanut butter cup themed. _Why is Rancis' kart here? Well it's no big deal, I guess. He __**is**__ riding with Taffyta._ She knocked intensely on the door, hoping it would bring someone to the door sooner. She could hear a man yelling inside somewhere, but couldn't make out the voice or what he was saying. _He sounds a little familiar.._

After a short while, Vannie opened the door. They both shrieked loudly upon meeting each other.

"You're so **adorable**!" Vannie yelled. _This is so cool!_

"You're so **pretty**!" Vanellope yelled, jumping in to hug her. _That's one more thing I can scratch off my list of things to do in this game!_ "Wait, before **anything** else.." She refocused herself and pushed back a little to look her other self in the eyes, "Is there a big gorilla man named Ralph here?"

"You know Ralph?" Vannie asked with a laugh. _That description is dead on._ "Yeah, he's right this way, come on." _I wonder how she knows Ralph. And how she knows he's here._

They held each other's hand as Vannie led the way to the dining room.

They went in, and there Ralph was, just standing up a few yards away, in a purple suit.

"Ralph!" Vanellope yelled excitedly before glitching onto his chest and giving him a big hug. Well, as big as she could muster with her small size. "So you really **were** here, you son of a gun! And what's with the suit?" She investigated the purple suit with interest. _It doesn't suit you at all.._

Vannie raised an eyebrow. _What was that she did just now? And I wonder how she knows Ralph.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Taffyta and Rancis are being so nice, letting Vanellope do all the baking herself.


	21. Planting the Idea

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Turning back to look at the castle after noticing his kart, Vannie furrowed her brow and asked, "Is Rancis here?" _I'm not really expecting an answer to that._

"Nah. He's off with Taffyta," Vanellope said, "They were with me when I made this sweet ride here." She grinned knowingly in Ralph's direction. _You always have that sort of reaction._

"Well, it's certainly colorful," Ralph said. _I guess it's not too bad compared to what I was expecting.._

"Don't listen to him. I think it's pretty," Vannie said with a grin. _It's weird that Rancis' kart is here, but I guess he must have a reason for leaving it there. I'll ask him later._

"He always says that about my karts.." Vanellope said reassuringly, "Oh wait! What does **your** kart look like?!" _I wanna see!_

"Well, it's not quite as colorful as yours.." Vannie said. _My bad, I used the same word as Ralph. I didn't mean anything by it though.._ "But mine is this one over here." It was also teal colored. It was the one thing their two karts had in common aside from there being sprinkles on it. Hers were white rather than orange and purple however. The interior was white as well, with a marshmallow seat. Its shape was slightly reminiscent of a sugar cookie.

"It looks good though," Vanellope said insistently, "I've just had a lot of time to refine my tastes, that's all. I have a kart back home for every day of the week now. Even though I usually use the one-" _Ralph wouldn't remember.. _She frowned slightly. "The one that Ralph helped me make. You should _see_ it!" She smiled again. _I have to snap out of it.._

"**Me**? Make a kart?" Ralph asked incredulously, "I can just about imagine." He couldn't help but chuckle as he imagined a kart with uneven teal and purple icing, and mismatched headlights among other peculiarities. _There's that headache again. I almost forgot I had it._

"It's a **masterpiece**!" Vanellope said excitedly. _I want to show it to him, but it'll have to wait.._

"I can't wait to see it," Vannie said warmly. _I wonder if she would think it's weird that I like Ralph.._

Vanellope's eyes began to well with tears as she allowed her mind to wander. _I wonder how I can get Ralph to remember.. It's really bothering me. Ralph is still Ralph, but he lacks that certain something that only his memory returning can fix. Maybe I'm just being selfish. Ralph doesn't seem to mind at all.. But that only makes it worse. I need **Stinkbrain** back. The one who taught me how to race all over again, who saved me from those 15 years of loneliness and isolation in Diet Cola Mountain.._ _I wish Ralph had moved into the castle with me too, thinking about selfishness. I may have friends now, but Ralph is the closest thing I have to a dad.._

"You're crying again," Ralph said softly. He would have continued to ask her what was wrong and tried to comfort her again, but she cut him off before he even opened his mouth.

"Urgh. I need to stop **doing** that!" Vanellope said in an annoyed tone while wiping her eyes, "Hey, is Diet Cola Mountain's bonus track in this game too?" _I was always afraid to go back there, like I would suddenly wake up to find out Ralph coming along and saving me was all just a wild dream my programming cooked up. But it really can't be helped..  
_

"I think so, but I've never really been there yet," Vannie said, "Is there something special about it?" _Yeah, now that I think about it, there's definitely a track there. Poor girl.. I'm sure he'll remember you soon.._

"It's where Ralphie here destroyed Turbo," Vanellope said with a grin, "I figure maybe if he sees it, he could remember something." _If anything will jog his memory, it will be familiar places.._

"Well, I don't see why not," Ralph said. _I'm not so sure it works like that after a total game reset, but we can try._

"Come on, Ralph! You act like you don't even **care** if you remember," Vanellope said with a frown, "When you remember, you'll **thank** me!" _Your life improved a lot when you met me, you know? I want you to remember all the joy I brought into your life too.._

"Alright_._. Well you don't expect me to drive, do you?" Ralph said hesitantly. _I'm not sure how I pulled off that stunt getting into this game without wrecking the kart I used. Doing it again is questionable at best. I don't want to mess up her kart.._

"Sit on the back of my kart, that's what we normally do," Vanellope said dismissively. _And in this kart you have a lot more foot room. If she's anything like me she'll want to drive too._

"If it wrecks, it's not **my** fault," Ralph said as he reluctantly got on as he was told. Like King Candy's kart earlier, Vanellope's kart slightly creaked under his weight. "These things are sturdy.." He smirked and started bouncing up and down on the back of the kart. _What is it about those smiling faces?_ The three of them laughed for a while and departed for Diet Cola Mountain.

It didn't take them especially long to get there, and it looked quite similar to how it was in Sugar Rush.

"It's right there between the two sugar free lollypops," Vanellope said cheerfully, "Well, that's where it is in my game anyways." She was leading them right into the wall.

"There's no opening! You're gonna wreck it!" Ralph yelled worriedly. _Kid, you might **die**.._

"Nice choice of words, but it's a fake wall!" the younger Vanellope said with a laugh as she drove through the base of the mountain, coming to a stop just inside.

"It's kinda weird going through a wall," Vannie said with a grin after making it through the entrance with no problems. _It has a tingly sensation to it.._

"You get used to it," Vanellope said cheerfully. She couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine being there. There was no little shack like she used to live in, and the training race track that Ralph made for her was also missing. But what **was** still there, were the mentos stalactites and the broiling hot diet cola springs. "This way." She led them further inside. "Well?" _Come on, Ralph. Remember! Although I guess that you should have remembered **me** long ago. But this should help jog your memory, right?_

Ralph took a long look around the room. He honestly tried to remember, for her sake, as it was clearly important to her. He looked for a good 5 minutes, walking around the room, observing it from many different angles. He sighed and said, "Sorry kid, I got nothing." _Every time I try to remember, this headache just gets too intense. It feels like I'll pass out if I keep that up. There **has** to be another way._

Vanellope wanted to scream. _There's clearly some flaw in my plan._ "Maybe if we went there in **my** game it'd be different," she said with a sigh, "But that could take hours, I doubt that Alex guy would help like Ashley did." _Plus we don't have Tammy's cruiser. I wonder how she's doing.._

Vannie was busy on the other side of the room throwing rocks at mentos. Her aim was quite terrible, especially when compared to Vanellope's. _Come on, I just want to knock **one** down.._

Vanellope looked over at Vannie and glitched onto Ralph's shoulder. "Hey Ralph," she whispered in his ear, "I was wondering for a while now.. I'm not interrupting anything between you two, am I?" _Come on, you can tell me.._

"What? No! What gave you that idea anyway?" Ralph asked surprisedly. _Although she **is** beautiful, and she has a mischievous personality that I do find attractive. Even if it may get a little annoying sometimes.. but the thought never even crossed my mind. Why is she of all people asking me this? That's more than a little weird.._

"What, **seriously**?" Vanellope asked incredulously, "You cleaned up, had dinner and everything!" _You seriously did all that without any motive? Come on, she's a sweet girl. It's not like she and I are the same person or anything.._

"That was King Candy's idea," Ralph said dismissively. _I can't believe I'm even having this conversation._ "He saw me sitting by this game and talked to me. I must've been the first person he had met outside here because he seemed real interested in making friends." _Oh, well there's Alex too.. _"Anyway, we don't know for sure that we can't get to your game yet." _Let's change the subject, please?_

Vanellope sighed. _I just thought you'd be happy with her, Ralph.. We may not have those sorts of feelings for each other since I'm a kid, but she might. She could make you so happy in a way that I just can't. Especially since she's so pretty.. Really, what could make you happier than two of me? I guess it **is** a little weird that I asked though.._

"I got one!" Vannie yelled from across the room as a mentos finally fell into the diet cola, making it erupt magnificently for a moment before calming back down. _I wonder if he remembered anything.. _

Ralph and the younger Vanellope looked over to her with a smile. "So you wanna try your game or not?" Ralph asked plainly. _Hopefully this will work. I don't want her to keep getting upset.._

"Yes!" Vanellope said happily. _Let's pretend that conversation never happened, I guess._

Vannie ran over to them, having accomplished her mission of making a mentos fall to see what would happen. "So did you remember anything?" she asked curiously. _I hope so. I want you to remember her.._

"Unfortunately not," Ralph said, clearing his throat before he continued, "We were just about to see if we could get to her game yet, would you like to come?" _Great, now the kid planted the idea in my head.._

"I'd love to!" Vannie said excitedly, "It was so **boring** earlier, there wasn't even anyone around so we decided to come back." _That Alex guy doesn't really count, he was just doing his job._

"So that's when you saw Ralphie, right?" Vanellope asked, still on Ralph's shoulder.

"Right," Vannie said with a smile. _You look like you're having fun up there.._

"Oh wait, I'm not going dressed like **this**. I'd be a laughing stock," Ralph said insistently, suddenly realizing he was still wearing that silly purple suit. _My clothes had better be ready too._

Vanellope sighed. _I was hoping he wouldn't notice. It's one of life's greatest joys, watching him react to embarrassing circumstances._

They decided to take a quick detour back to the castle to retrieve Ralph's normal outfit. Or rather he decided **for** them.

* * *

**Author's Note:** In my mind, Ralph is the type of person who just wouldn't **immediately** think about wanting to go out with a girl just because she's beautiful and has an attractive personality. He needed a nudge to get him started sooner.


	22. Jet

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Vannie and Vanellope drove back to the castle with Ralph since he absolutely **needed** his original outfit back.

"Huh, Rancis' kart is gone," Vannie said confusedly, "He must've used his code to pick it up." _Why was his kart here to begin with? There's no reason to suspect anything of him though, so why is it bothering me so much?_ _Sure I'm friends with all the racers, but for them to come to the castle is unheard of. Well, not that they would be shooed off the premises or anything._

They opened the door and went inside.

"Good evening princess," Sour Bill said in his usual monotone, "and.. **little** princess?" _From the original Sugar Rush, I guess. __No idea who the big guy is.. _He was busy wiping something up with a spray bottle and towel near the back of the throne.

"Dad was looking for you earlier," Vannie said teasingly. _Where were you, I wonder?_

"Long story. I **could** tell you," Sour Bill said.

"Please do!" Vanellope said excitedly as she glitched back onto Ralph's shoulder. _I love it when **my** Sour Bill tell stories for some reason._ _It gets me unusually pumped up because he talks so slow all the time. It may have something to do with my active imagination, I don't know._

"Well.. Some guy came earlier_._ Grey skinned," Sour Bill said slowly, "He grabbed me.. covered my mouth and came back here." He pulled back a section of the light purple curtain which revealed a white elevator, not very similar to the rest of the castle's architecture. It was more futuristic-looking.

Ralph was getting a little impatient and it showed on his face. _I never had the patience for stories that aren't about me. This one is already getting on in length._ He stayed silent regardless.

Vanellope tried not to panic when she heard the guy had grey skin. _It can't be Turbo. It **can't** be.._

"He tried to break into the code room back here," Sour Bill said.

Vanellope swallowed hard and hugged Ralph's neck, which Ralph didn't mind for some reason unknown to him. _It has to be Turbo! Who **else** could it be?!_

Sour Bill continued his story, "He knocked me out. Seems like Salty Phil heard banging on the door to the code room when it wouldn't open and called guards a while ago. He ran away. Salty Phil got a hit in on him **first**." Sour Bill smirked briefly. _When they got closer while he was telling his story, they saw that he had been cleaning up a small blood trail which resulted from the grey skinned man getting decked in the nose by Salty Phil. Quite the feat for someone of such small stature._

Sour Bill stopped talking and started putting a shine on the spot where the last bit blood had been.

They stood there for a moment expecting him to say more.

Sour Bill looked up at them and said, "The End." _I don't know what else happened, sorry._

"It **had** to be Turbo, Ralph!" Vanellope said worriedly. She held it in as best she could until Sour Bill finished. "It shouldn't have been him. He should be **dead**! But he had grey skin, Ralph! And it's the same thing **Turbo** did!" She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her panic. _Calm down.._ _At least he couldn't mess up this game. But what if he tries to mess with my game again?!_

"Alright, kid. I understand kid," Ralph said softly, "I'll get my clothes and we'll follow him. He **won't** get away." _I may have my priorities a little messed up there, sorry.._

Vanellope whined wordlessly. _That's not the most pressing issue here, Ralph! Well it can't take him long to get them on.._

"Spicy Jill put your clothes this way," Sour Bill said, "Follow me." Sour Bill led them to a guest room up the stairs. _Ralph's clothes were on the bed folded neatly._

"I think Dad wanted you to stay here," Vannie said sheepishly. _He's always been nice like that.. I wonder if Ralph would stay.._ She swallowed hard and rubbed the side of her neck nervously.

Ralph scoffed and shooed them away, closing the door in the process. _I appreciate the offer, but.. _He quickly got changed. _I don't really think it's appropriate. I need to stop thinking about her like that. It's weird._

"Alright, let's go!" Ralph said urgently as he left the room. _Now I can wear my game face._

"Give us a radio, Sour Bill!" Vannie said urgently. _I need to calm down, but how can I when s__omeone tried to break into our game's code? That's something I absolutely can't forgive._

They were lucky that their game no longer used the Konami Code that most games used to unlock their code rooms.

Sour Bill pulled out a radio from wherever he keeps things on that small body of his and handed it to her. _I can just get another one later._

"This is princess Vanellope, do you have a lock on the intruder?" Vannie asked over the radio and waited for a response. _Now isn't the time to let my emotions run wild.._

* * *

Markowski, Spears, Candlehead and Jubileena were driving around in Sugar Rush 2 again just past the Taffy Swamp. Candlehead was back in her kart, with Markowski sitting in the back seat. Similarly, Spears was sitting behind Jubileena in her kart. Spears didn't know, but he still had scribbles on his face from earlier. They didn't saying anything because he was wearing a helmet anyway. Jubileena had agreed on behalf of her and Candlehead to assist in catching 'those guys'.

"So who are these guys anyway?" Jubileena asked. _Who exactly are we dealing with? _She had always been the more focused of the two racers, even though Candlehead had more skill.

"It seems like they come from this old game called Turbo Time that was unplugged decades ago," Markowski said, "**Jet** and **Set**, so they're called."

"Look over there!" Candlehead pointed off in the distance. _I hope you can see what I'm pointing at.._

They could hardly see, but Wynnchel and Duncan, along with several members of the C.L.A.W. team in a pink van, were driving after Jet, who had been using Rancis' kart. Rancis wasn't very protective of his kart when he wasn't using it. It's not like he had to worry since he had his code memorized. He had left it lying around somewhere when he decided to ride with Taffyta. He would just have her drive him to a garage later.

The officers were doing well enough to keep up, but they just couldn't cut him off. Wynnchel sighed. _Why can't vehicles cars have power-ups too? It's a security flaw we've been bringing up for years now, but still nothing!_

"That's got to be one of them! Let's go!" Markowski said excitedly. He didn't have a helmet on, unlike Spears. He always felt the helmet got in the way, making him walk into walls half the time. He had a look of satisfaction on his face, finally being relevant to something, unlike how he'd been living in his game for months.

Candlehead looked back at him for a moment before chuckling to herself. _Someone's enjoying this.._

After a few minutes they caught up and drove alongside Wynnchel and Duncan.

Jet was headed to Sugar Beach to meet up with his brother after failing to do his part. He had tissues in his nose, since it was still bleeding. He found them in the glove compartment. _We need to think up a new plan, but how am I going to shake off security?_ Jet wasn't as good as his brother. He always came in last place in Turbo Time. Or second if the Player was **that** bad at the game. _I can't be more than a few seconds ahead of them right now.. Not nearly enough._

"Hey," Jubileena said to Wynnchel and Duncan, "We'll help you. Keep him distracted and we'll cut him off."

"We appreciate it Jubileena," Duncan said with a smile, "Big fan by the way."

Jubileena and Candlehead drove around, making a detour through the Pocky Plains, predicting he was probably headed to Sugar Beach, since that's where it looked like Set, the one wearing armor, was headed when he was using Candlehead's kart earlier.

"This is your last chance, pull over now ya grey **freak**!" Wynnchel taunted with a bullhorn. _That oughta do it._

Jet looked back for a moment out of anger. _So what if I have grey skin? You think I like it? __One of these buttons has to help.. I wish I had more time to familiarize myself with these controls.._ _It's not the green one, I know that for sure. The one on the steering wheel is pretty much the only other one here, but I thought for sure it's a horn.._ He pressed it. If he was wrong it'd just be a horn anyway. Chocolate syrup poured from the back of the kart which made Wynnchel and Duncan, and the C.L.A.W. officers lose control of their vehicles.

Jet turned his head back briefly in satisfaction. _Take that, doughnut freaks._ Upon turning his attention back to his front, he noticed Jubileena and Candlehead fast approaching from the other end of the Pocky Plains. There weren't any turns they had to worry about, so they managed to get ahead of him quite easily. _Oh, come on.._

Jubileena smirked. _You can't expect to beat a racer at their own game. That's something you're about to learn the hard way._

Jet took a quick turn through the Pocky Plains. _Detour, detour, come on! At least somewhere to hide for now!_ By then Wynnchel and Duncan regained control of their vehicles and headed into the Pocky Plains as well. It wasn't long before Jet was cornered at a cliff, which he had barely noticed in time to come to a swerving stop. _Sugar Beach is right down there, but it's a **long** drop I can't expect to survive.._ He sighed and got out of the kart, putting his hands in the air. _Whatever happens now will better than dying.. Being_ _forgotten.._ He clenched his teeth, careful not to show off their yellow glow.

The officers picked on him for a while to seal their victory before tossing him in the van with the C.L.A.W. team and driving off in the direction of the castle.

"This is Princess Vanellope, do you have a lock on the intruder?" the Vannie said over the radio.

"We got 'em Princess, we're en route to the castle. ETA 5 minutes," Wynnchel said happily into the radio.

"Guy gave us quite a bit of trouble," Duncan said happily into the radio, "We lucked out and these two soldiers and a couple of racers got him. Even got an autograph." _That's going right on my wall._

"Good, put him in the Fungeon," Vannie said over the radio with a sigh of relief, "We'll decide what to do with him later." _Sorry, Ralph. I guess we don't have to worry about it now. I wanted to help catch him too.. I'm sure little me feels the same._

"Well.." Ralph said, "I guess we can go to your game now after all." _I wanted to be the one to catch him though.._

"We should wait until they get here," Vanellope said insistently. _I don't think I can rest until I see him locked up, or worse._

Five minutes passed and the officers drove up to the castle. Ralph, Vannie, Vanellope, Sour Bill, and Salty Phil were waiting outside. Markowski's group decided to head off to Sugar Beach in case they could help find Set as well.

The officers pulled Jet from the van, which made Vanellope gasp. _It's not Turbo. But close.. His face is a bit more round, and his nose is a little bigger._ "You're not Turbo.." Vanellope said in shock. _So Turbo really is dead then, good.. But who is **this**? He's obviously from Turbo Time.._

"No. I'm not. But I might as well be," Jet said guiltily. His hands were bound with handcuffs made of rock candy. _Maybe this is for the best. I deserve this after what I've done.._

Jet wasn't quite as.. enthusiastic about their escapades as his brother was. It was all a means to an end, not becoming obsolete. Turbo had given him and Set a copy of the Konami Code as a parting gift just before he went Turbo, saying he 'shan't' return. Back then, practically nobody was playing Turbo Time, only going to it when RoadBlasters was already in use, usually being left mid-game when it became available. Their game was doomed anyway, so Set insisted they do the same, but go to a different kind of game. They didn't like Turbo very much, Set practically hated him in fact, but they put up with him because he was kind of like family to them. They worried when RoadBlasters and Turbo Time became unplugged the next day, hoping Turbo wouldn't mess with '_their_' games, but he never did. They always wondered where he had been all those years, but it didn't matter as long as he stayed out of their way.

"Nice nose there boy," Salty Phil said to.. rub salt in the wound. He may be a little nuts.

Vanellope insisted that she, Ralph and Vannie follow the officers to the Fungeon to make sure Jet didn't escape, though he went into the cell without incident.

"Satisfied, little girl?" Jet asked tiredly. _I can understand her determination after hearing from Sarge.. From **Calhoun** what happened to her, but it won't stop me from disliking her. She's been looking at me this entire time with such hateful eyes.. Well, I guess I did say so myself. I_ _might as well be Turbo_. _But still, come on._


	23. Set

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"I just don't get where he could have gone," Felix said disappointedly, "Jiminy Jaminy. Ever since those tracks stopped we haven't seen hide nor hair of that little ruffian." _Ruffian might not be the best word to use here.._

"Relax Felix," Calhoun said reassuringly, "The kart tracks disappeared **before** he got out of the sugar so he's probably not using a kart anymore, right? We'll find him. He can't be far."

"I know. You're right," Felix said disappointedly, "I just want to hurry up so we can go find Ralph. And try to sort out this mess." _I shouldn't try to remember right now.._

"Kohut, Loya, you seen anything on your end?" Calhoun asked into her radio. We've been looking for quite a while with no results at all.. I thought for sure setting up a perimeter with the soldiers would have this done in no time.

"Negatory, ma'am," Kohut said over the radio, "We're holding the line but no sign of him yet. Just a few curious racers."

"You sure you don't want us to help?" Taffyta could be heard over the radio asking Kohut.

"Affirmative," Kohut could be heard answering her, "We have it under control."

"Sarge, we've lost track of Marco at Point C," William said over the radio pointedly. _This is more fun than I thought it'd be! It's sort of in my job description anyway, depending on interpretation. I've never done anything like this though.. We'll catch this hotshot in no time, I just hope Marco's okay._

"Kohut, Loya, you two stay put," Calhoun said into her radio, "Felix and I will rendezvous at Point C." _So he's **there**._

"Apologies for the radio silence, ma'am," Markowski said over the radio, "We've got good news to report." _You'll like it._

"Spill it," Calhoun said into her radio. _Hurry up and tell us._

"We **caught** one of them," Markowski said over the radio proudly. _Although technically.._

"Ahem!" Jubileena said over the radio. _Don't even try to take credit, dude._

"Well, technically it was the two racers assisting us," Markowski said over the radio, "We.. I mean **they** cornered him in that big field of pocky and he's being held in the castle's.. Uh.. **Fungeon**." _A fun dungeon? Seriously?_

"I would have preferred to not get **civilians** involved.." Calhoun said into her radio in mild disappointment, "But that's good to hear. We'll interrogate him later. Right **now** we could use you at the northeastern end of the beach." _Since you haven't been listening in on your radio.._

"We're on our way," Markowski said over the radio confidently before putting it away. "Thanks for helping out ladies, it's a huge help."

"We have **names** you know," Jubileena said, "You never **bothered** to ask." _I've been really patient with you, but if you can't at least do that much.._

"I.. Woah.. I'm **sorry**," Markowski said nervously. _I really should have asked. It just slipped my mind.._

Jubileena sighed and said, "I'm Jubileena, this is Candlehead." _There._

"Well Candlehead is more like a nickname really," Candlehead said sheepishly, "My name is really Minty, but there's another racer with the name Minty Zaki already. It gets confusing fast when the two of us are together." _Which is almost never. It wouldn't hurt for people to use my actual name on occasion._

"You gotta forgive Markowski here," Spears said with a laugh, "He doesn't talk to women much" _Or at all. Except for Sarge._

"What?! I do too!" Markowski said apprehensively, "Come on, back me up here, Minty. I've been plenty talkative, right?" _I hope you don't mind me calling you by your name instead of Candlehead. This Minty Zaki person isn't around.._

"Not sure how to answer that," Candlehead said with a sheepish smile as she briefly glanced back to look at him. _He's pretty funny.._

"It's just a joke, Markowski," Spears said wryly, "By the way, thanks for what you did earlier. That guy was pissing me off." _I don't know how you knew to check our game's code, or how you got in there in the first place, but you did me one hell of a favor. It's great being in control of my own body again. I just wish I could remember everything he did in the code room so we could make sure nothing else goes wrong.._

"So do you have any idea where he might be hiding?" Jubileena asked Spears, "Sugar Beach is just a beach. Not really anywhere to hide there. Besides, he would have left foot prints in the sugar so it'd have to be further inland." _Although I guess nearby there is that.._

"Are there any natural caves near there?" Spears asked, "We work best in confined spaces, and he's been in Hero's Duty for a while." _As long as we've been plugged in._

"Well there is one, but even still, it's not very large," Jubileena said, "And it's more like an unfinished bonus track than a cave. I couldn't imagine anyone hiding there for long." _We had the same idea, in a way.._

"We should start there," Spears said before pulling out his sensor and showing it to Jubileena, "Could you pinpoint it on this map here?" _I know it's not the best, but at least it works.._

The visuals were a bit glitchy, but Jubileena could make out what looked like the place she's referring to.

"Well I think it would be around **here**," Jubileena said while pointing at a spot, "It looks similar anyways." _I've never used one of those things before, so I can't be sure._

"Sarge, we're sending you coordinates on where he might be hiding," Spears said over the radio, "There should be a cave." _Good luck._

"Let's hope he's that **stupid**," Calhoun said over the radio._Hiding in a cave of all places.._

The cave wasn't far from Felix and Calhoun. The entrance was easy enough to spot from the air, since they knew what they were looking for and where to find it. The cave walls were made of a greyish rock candy, with the occasional veins of silver or gold Jordon Almonds. In addition to that, caramel was dripping from the ceiling of the cave, with small caramel stalactites and stalagmites having formed over time. It may have been a cave, but it was indeed quite obviously part of an unfinished bonus track as the ground was kart-friendly.

"You re~ally **should** use more secure channels, Tamora~," Set said over the radio as Felix and Calhoun walked inside the cave, "But I guess even so, **you got me**. However, I'm willing to make a deal. A **fair** one this time. You should be happy."

"And what if we don't want to make a deal, corpse?" Calhoun asked firmly. _Really, what are you even supposed to be with that grey skin?_

"You can **have** Marco. He's knocked out in the cave back here with me," Set said, "But in **exchange** I want my brother and I to walk free." _Especially my brother._

"You're more messed up than I thought if you think-" Calhoun said before getting cut off._ Keep talking, we'll find you.. If he hasn't killed Marco yet, he likely won't._

"Well now, let me finish," Set said in a slow, soft tone, "That's when the other part of the bargain comes in. You see, I've hidden away something very important in your game, somewhere no one would **ever** think to look. I'll tell you where it is once we're gone. And **before** you give me your answer I would just like to add.. We've never outright killed anyone. Or any game for that matter. It's not like we're murderers.. Oh **sure**, the games went out of order when we left them.. But that was an.. unintended side effect. They simply couldn't 'bounce back' in time before being **unplugged**. It's also the reason your game was eventually installed, I'll have you know. We'll even **apologize** if you'd like." _What you don't know will hurt you, you know?_

"Tammy.." Felix said worriedly. _I'm not the least bit convinced, and I know you're not either. But I'm worried you'll go along with it thinking you can catch him again later.._

"Hmph.. Alright how about **this**, scumbag," Calhoun said firmly, "You take off Spears' armor and walk on out of there, and **then** we'll talk."

"And then you'll shoot me in the back as I run away, is that it?" Set asked, "I'll tell you what- Ah, you found me.." He laughed. _You really are too good to be true._

Calhoun slowly walked towards Set. Set was at a dead end, sitting casually in Spears' armor with a pistol from Hero's Duty in his hand.

"Go on, you'll tell me what?" Calhoun asked threateningly, holding her pistol as well. _Do you really expect to get out of this?_

Set let out a sigh, smiled and said, "You know, you really are one **dynamite gal**." _If I can't have it my way, I might as well go out in style. Kill me, Tamora._

Calhoun just stood there looking at him incredulously. _You're not getting off that easy. _"Thanks, maggot. Now are you ready to **give up**?" she asked firmly.

Set laughed. "You got me.." he said with a sigh, "It was a fun game. I'd have liked a **replay**." He laughed again. _I guess this is it then._

"We done here?" William asked disappointedly after zipping in from the entrance. _Sorry there, Sarge. It took me a while to find this place.._

"Yes, **I'm done**," Set said with a somber smile, "I've hidden it in the memory file, Tamora. Markowski will likely understand. And don't take it too hard on my brother, he's always been pulled along by the ear, so to speak." _I feel as though there's something important I'm forgetting, but there's no time.. I love you, Tamora. Goodbye.. This isn't the game over I was looking for, **but it will do**._ Before any of them could react, Set swallowed hard, raised the pistol he was holding to his head and pulled the trigger. His body blinked for a moment, then faded away.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes, Set is really and truly 100% dead. This isn't the final 'conflict' of the story, however.


	24. Monorail Love Confession

**Author's Note:** Well, this is a moment that you've been waiting for. But not everything goes as you would expect.

**Additional Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

Ralph's head was still wrapping itself around his earlier conversation with Vanellope. _**Do** I have feelings for her?_ He looked at Vannie curiously. _Yeah._ _I think I do, actually, now that I think about it.. But even with that being the case, it would be weird with the kid hanging around too.. I don't want her to go away or anything. She's adorable. But dating someone and hanging around with that same person as a kid? I don't know how I could juggle that.._

The three left Sugar Rush 2, since the matter with Jet was settled.

"Hey Ralph, I was wondering where you had gone," Alex said cheerfully as he greeted them at the gateway to Sugar Rush 2, "Don't worry about it though, it's nothing." _I think I'll only do what's necessary from now on, and use my judgment for other circumstances. These guys are used to the way things work by now._

"Sorry about that, Alex," Ralph said with a forced smile, "I figured you probably saw me go in. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble." _So he didn't know.._

"Naaaah," Alex said dismissively, "So what's it like meeting yourself?" He looked at both Vanellope and Vannie curiously. _I'm sure it must be pretty interesting._

"It's kind of like having a sister, I guess?" Vanellope said. _I don't really like talking to these guys. They're always stopping us when we're trying to go somewhere._

"I guess that makes sense," Alex said, "So where are you three headed?" _I asked anyway in the end.. Oh well, I'll get used to not asking so much._

"We were wondering if we can go to the other power strip yet," Ralph said, "We're thinking of visiting the first Sugar Rush." _Hopefully it will help my memory somehow. I'm not sure how that would work though._

"Ah, actually we just finished that," Alex said with a smile, "Couldn't be longer than 15 minutes ago." _I think you'll be the first ones to leave this power strip to check out Game Station East._

They hadn't noticed until then, but there were indeed people who were on the other power strip before walking around Game Station West.

"Oh, before I forget," Ralph said, "If you see Felix can you tell him I where I went? He's the type who worries over things like this."_ For some reason I know just how he is about things like this.._

"Sure thing," Alex said with a nod before zipping away, disappearing back into the circuitry of the power strip.

Ralph, Vannie, and Vanellope walked off in the direction of the monorail which led to Game Station East. "So you want to head straight there? Or should we go somewhere else first?" Ralph asked. _We do have plenty of time, right?_

"Good question," Vanellope said, "What do you think, 'older me'?" _Maybe one of us should start using a nickname.._

"Sight-seeing can always wait," Vannie said with a smile, "Ralph's memory won't return itself." _I don't want you to stay upset about this.._

"Fair enough," Ralph said with a smile. _I could certainly be happy, going out with her.. But even if she does somehow return these feelings.._

They stepped into the monorail and sat down in the closest empty seats. They had it all to themselves, as very few people were in Game Station West long enough to consider a return trip.

"I'm gonna go see what it's like up front!" Vanellope said excitedly before glitching to the front of the monorail. _This is cool! Look at all that electricity bouncing around!_

Ralph leaned into the aisle for a moment to see where she went and could see her bouncing around looking through the windows at the front of the monorail.

"She's quite the handful," Vannie said with a nervous smile. _I wish I had more time to talk with Ralph in private.. She's a sweetheart, but she dominates nearly every conversation she's involved in. I guess I can't blame her for that. I was like that too as a kid.._

"That she is," Ralph said nervously._ I can't even bring it up.. It's just a weird thought the kid put in my head. Maybe this was part of her plan all along.. Leaving the two of us alone like this. But she wouldn't like me like that anyway. Look at me. I'm a Bad Guy who lives in garbage.  
_

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence between the two as they wordlessly tried to read each other's mood.

"I.. was wondering.." Vannie said nervously as she fidgeted with her hands, breaking the silence. _Deep breaths.. I just have to ask him. I hope he says yes. He's just so hilarious, and he's such a sweetheart too, even though he can be a bit grumpy sometimes.. I don't know if he'd like **me** though. I know I must have made him mad a few times at least.._

Ralph cleared his throat, bracing for whatever it was she was about to say. _She's nervous about something. That's bad news for sure.. In the off chance she's going to ask what I think she's going to ask, how should I respond? _"Y-yeah?" he asked apprehensively then took in a deep breath and swallowed hard. _I don't know why I think she'll ask **me** out of all people.. There has to be at least **some** guy racers in her game that she's more acquainted with. In addition to that, there's also the size difference. __I'm not exactly the thinnest guy on the block, granted it's mostly muscle._ Plus there's also the little one to think about. I almost seem to have a sort of father-daughter relationship with her.. He glanced at Vannie nervously. _It'd be weird, dating her at the same time, right?_

Vannie wracked her brain, trying to put it the best way possible. _I only have one chance to get this right._ "You don't have to give me an answer right now," she said apprehensively, "but later, if it's alright with you.." _It's not coming out the way I want it to at all. Why can't I just spit it out? 'I love you, Ralph. Will you go out with me?' I can't possibly just say that. What am I even thinking? Why is this so hard?!  
_

Ralph's heart practically stopped. _You've **got** to be kidding me.. I've got enough trouble thinking about it as it is, and you're seriously going to ask me that now? Before I can even figure this out?_ He sat there, letting her speak, but his thoughts were running wild trying to come up with an answer on the spot.

"No, that's not right.." Vannie said apprehensively as she shook her head, "What I **mean** to say is.. Would you go out with me? I mean, like.. I like you a lot.. I'm not sure if you feel that way or not, but it'd be awesome if you did. And I'm not saying it's not **great** to have 'little me' with us, but I'd like to spend some time with just you and me so I can get to know you a little better. Not all the time, but you know.. Yeah." She felt her entire body run hot with embarrassment as she realized everything she just said. The words she'd been bottling up just erupted like an old dam finally giving way to a flood. _I can't believe I said it like that. He's going to think I'm an idiot. I **am** an idiot for saying it like that. I'm **such** an idiot. This was my only chance and I blew it.. Even if we do have time alone again where I could try again, if he says no **now** it won't matter.. _She sat there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for his answer, clenching her fists in her lap. _I just don't know what to do.._

Ralph sighed deeply and scratched his head. _Why's it so hot in here?_ "Well.." he said hesitantly, then cleared his throat to buy some time, "I'll say first, that I **do** like you, like **that**. At least I'm pretty sure I do. I was thinking about it for a while now. It's just that.. I'm not sure how to say this.." He ran his fingers through his hair, expecting that to help him think. "Having two of you around, and one being a kid. I don't know, it just seems weird. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and it's nothing.." _It hurt a lot more to say that than I thought it would.. I'm so sorry. I wish I could jump up and scream 'Yes!' at the top of my lungs, but.. I **have** to sort all this out.._

"I- Okay.." Vannie said somberly, "Well I- Like I said.. You don't have to give me an answer right **now**. I'm not going anywhere.. But **please** let me know when you come up with an answer." She took a deep breath and tried to hold back as many tears as she could. _He didn't say no. It's not a no.. At least not outright. But still.. Why am I crying? Will his memory returning cement that into a no?_ She sniffled. _Please don't let that be the case.. I don't think I'll find anyone else like him..__ I wish I was back home.. Maybe this wouldn't hurt so bad if I could at least cry without holding back.._ _I hope he says yes when his memory returns._ She long blinked a few times and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her hoodie. _I need to calm down or she'll start worrying about me..  
_

"Welcome to Game Station East," a female voice rang out from a speaker.

"What are you two waiting for?! We're **here**!" Vanellope said excitedly, waiting at the door, "Move your molasses!" _This monorail is awesome.._

"Wait up!" Vannie said, forcing a laugh. _I don't want her to worry.._

Ralph clenched his fists before stroking his forehead. _Well they don't call me Wreck-It for nothing.. I made her cry. I hurt her. Why do I always hurt people? I **need** to sort this out somehow.. I want to be with her. I do._ _I love her.._ He wiped his eyes and left the monorail, lagging behind them somewhat as they headed to Sugar Rush. _They're just so similar. I don't want her or anyone else to think I'm interested in the kid like that.._

Game Station East was much more crowded than Game Station West. Passengers piled into the monorail and it was on its way just a couple of minutes after arriving. Ashley was so busy keeping track of everyone boarding and waiting to board the next one that she couldn't greet them.

"What's the matter, Ralphie?" Vanellope asked wryly, "Nervous you'll remember throwing one too many tantrums?" _It isn't that though, is it? What's wrong?_

"Oh, please," Ralph scoffed with a forced smile. _She can tell something's wrong.. Talking to her about it won't help though._

"So many people!" Vannie said excitedly, "So weird, the other station was so empty!" _Try to stay calm.. I don't want Ralph to think I'm a depressing person to be around.._

"You should have seen it in **my** game!" Vanellope said with a laugh, "Pretty much **everyone** went there while the plugs were being switched around! Ralph and Felix didn't come back in time though, that's why they forgot everything when his game was unplugged." _I still don't get why it happened.. I hope he'll remember me soon after we get inside.._

"Well, here it is, I guess," Ralph said as he looked up at the sign that said Sugar Rush. _Why am I so hesitant to enter? I'm worried about getting my memory back? Will I be able to make up my mind about this when we go in? I want to say yes.. But what if remembering everything I've been through with the kid makes me say **no**? _He swallowed hard and the three got on the train to go inside. It felt odd, since they had just gotten off the monorail to get there in the first place.

"Don't worry about it!" Vanellope said insistently. _Why are you so worried about this, Ralph? Is it because of what I said earlier?_

Ralph sighed and walked ahead of them this time. _Maybe if I don't see them it will help me think about this._ They were finally inside Sugar Rush. Ralph felt a wave of nostalgia hit him, even though he didn't remember visiting there before. It was a bit different than Sugar Rush 2, namely the world's graphics weren't quite as advanced. There were also subtle differences in world layout where tracks had been added in Sugar Rush 2.

"Woah! Ralphie, you **shrunk**!" Vanellope said with a laugh.

"What? No I didn't," Ralph said confusedly as he turned around. _What are you talking about? _"Where'd the little you run off to?" He furrowed his brow as he turned back around to see if he could spot her, "She was so excited to come here and yet she just runs off.."

"Woah! Huh?!" Vanellope said, "Ralph, I got **bigger**!" _No wonder he's confused! Where'd the other me go to? Is she little?_

A chill ran down Ralph's spine. Vanellope now looked exactly Vannie. He looked around wildly to see if he could find the **real** Vannie, but he couldn't see her anywhere. He looked at her as if he had seen a ghost. _No.._

Vanellope involuntarily glitched in place into yellow code and she was little again. She glitched again and she was older.

"No.." Ralph said in disbelief. _Now they really **ar**e the same person.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** This is something I was planning to do earlier in Sugar Rush 2 at the start when she first got there, but it makes more sense to do it here, on the older game. It'll make sense later.


	25. Merged

**Author's Note:** Okay, so it's natural to start freaking out now. I wouldn't blame you. Also, I'd recommend reading my other story, 'Zombie Candy' to understand where Zombie and King Candy are coming from all of a sudden. It's still in the old style I used to write in though and a few extremely minor details have changed.

To distinguish both King Candys from each other, I have the one from the first Sugar Rush labeled as 'King Candy(1)'.

The underlined text you see in this chapter is the thoughts of either Vannie or Vanellope, whichever one is not in control of their shared body. The one in control is denoted by the name used for their dialogue. The thoughts of the one not in control can be 'heard' by the one in control. It's similar to how I imagine it would have been like for Turbo controlling King Candy, except in his case he could block it out because of how he merged himself with King Candy intentionally.

**Additional Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'No..'?" Vanellope asked curiously, "What happ-" _I'm in here too.._ Oh **that's** weird.. The other me is in here too. What the heck is going on around here?!" _Is it because we're in my game?_ _My dad might know something about__ this.._

Vanellope glitched into her smaller form, Vannie's personality taking over in the process. _Now **I'm** stuck.. This stinks. I hope we can get this fixed._

"O-okay, now stay calm.. There has to.. There's got to be some kind of explanation for this," Ralph said nervously. _This **isn't** what I wanted. Not at all.._

"Well I'd certainly **hope** so, I've got to get back to my game in the morning," Vannie said nervously. She glitched into her older form.

"This is confusing.." Vanellope said as she stroked her temple. _It's giving me a headache too.._

They could hear someone yelling into the microphone at the race track.

"What's going on over there?!" Vanellope asked nonchalantly, "Come on slowpoke, let's go see!" _I don't want him to worry.. We should be able to fix this **somehow**. _She ran off in the direction of the race track. She was still glitching between her younger and older selves with no signs of it stopping.

Ralph's head started aching again as if it was slowly being squeezed in a vice, as he looked out at the landscape before following her. "Vanellope, wait!" _We need to worry about getting you two separated somehow first.._

From the large stand where King Candy used to sit, Zombie of Bad-Anon could be heard yelling, "Zombie have hobbies! Not just eat brains! That just in game! Zombie like racing, having meeting with other Bad Guys, and meeting new people! You know Wreck-It Ralph! Ralph **Bad Guy** too! But he save Sugar Rush, game you love! **Bad Guy** save your game! 'Candy Kane' trying to set things straight! He **not** Turbo! You not giving chance to talk! Not **listening**! Who **real** Bad Guy here?! HAH?!"

Vanellope couldn't believe what she was hearing. _**Turbo**.. No.. King Candy is alive? Here? He can't be.._ She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard his voice. _Dad.._

"..Thank you, Zombie.." King Candy(1) said solemnly, "I apologize on Zombie's behalf. He's right, mind you. But he's had it rough and didn't know how else to express it. As for me.. I told Zombie the **full** story earlier, but I'm afraid that it's a bit too long. It's long enough to make a movie out of, you could say." He sighed. "This dates back to when Sugar Rush was first plugged in 15 years ago. The one you know as Turbo came to this game then. I was **always** a real racer within Sugar Rush. Yes, I really **was** the rightful ruler. Turbo, I don't know **how** he did it, but he took control of my body while everyone was busy watching the very first Random Roster Race. I'm sure at least some of you from this game must remember seeing me crash that day. It didn't happen often, after all. Me crashing, that is.."

There were murmurs of disbelief in the crowd. _How could what he's saying be true? Can that really happen?_ _Someone stealing your body and posing as you for 15 years before being discovered.._ And yet that's no more farfetched than what they thought happened. That Turbo had simply created a design for himself, from scratch. That he added code to make himself **King**, from scratch. Ralph made his way towards where Vanellope was. He looked up to the stand when he heard King Candy talking about him.

"It's true that in Ralph's game he's a Bad Guy," King Candy(1) said, "But to me he's the best **Good Guy** of all for what he did for Vanellope and this game. For what he did for **me**. I don't even want to be a king anymore.. Just please don't make me live alone. I've been alone since game one."

There were more murmurs in the crowd, but they never solidified into any sorts of cheering or boos. Nor calling for his head.

Vanellope, as if in a trance, slowly walked to the stand where King Candy(1) had been giving his speech, fixated on where the voice was coming from. King Candy was escorted down in candy cuffs made of rock candy. It was then that she saw him. There he was.. King Candy.. He no longer had a crown atop his head, and his clothes were severely torn. Vanellope glitched into her younger self involuntarily. She stood there, as if she were frozen solid, that old familiar feeling of anxiety taking hold. _No.. Turbo is definitely dead. He has to be the real King Candy from this game, right? _"Are you **really** not Turbo?" Vanellope asked apprehensively. _Of course he isn't.._

King Candy(1) looked over to her, eyes full of shock and fear. Fear of being rejected by the one who Turbo hurt most. His daughter.. His knees went weak and he fell backward onto the ground sitting up. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm not.." _I'm supposed to be your adoptive father.. Don't you remember?_

Vanellope slowly forced herself to walk up to him, stretching her arm out. She grabbed his forearm tightly. Touching him like this sent chills down her spine. She looked into his eyes, afraid of what she might see in him in the next instant. _This will prove one way or the other. When Turbo attacked me during that Random Roster Race it kept messing up his disguise and his code turned red.. _She glitched in place, making him glitch alongside her.. But this time it was just a soft blue colored code that he glitched into. There was no sign of Turbo. _He's clean. I don't really get it, but he's our dad, okay?_

"You're not.." Vanellope said in disbelief, glitching to her older self and back again. She let go of him and backed away. "Let him go_.._" She sat down and put her hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes, suddenly having an unbearable headache.

"Vanellope!" Ralph yelled, "Are you okay?!" _We have to fix this!_

Vanellope glitched into her older self and opened her eyes. "My.. Our? head is killing me.." Vannie said tiredly. _I feel like I'll pass out any minute.._

Wynnchel uncuffed King Candy as instructed. _I don't really get what's going on._

"Ralph, what's going on? What **happened**?!" King Candy(1) asked, getting to his feet. _She's older? Did she try to make herself older for him?_

"I don't know!" Ralph said, "We were with the Vanellope from Sugar Rush 2 and once we got here they sort of.. merged or something."

"**Merged**?!" King Candy(1) asked worriedly. _So there's a Sugar Rush 2 now.. Is someone in the code room right now, messing with files?! No.. It only happened as soon as they got there, it can't be that.._ "Ralph! We **have** to get her to the code room! If there's any way to fix this, it would have to be **there**!"

Ralph briefly glitched into yellow code as he suddenly remembered interrogating Sour Bill about what Turbo did to Vanellope.

"You appear to be glitching as well! What in the world is going _on_?!" King Candy(1) asked worriedly. _I somehow doubt there's a Fix-It Felix Jr. 2.._

"I lost my memory. It's not important right now," Ralph said insistently, "We need to get her to the code room **now**!" _I can't lose them.._

"I have **no** right to go there, Ralph," King Candy(1) said, "Not after what Turbo did.. Take this code.." He reached into his suit, but couldn't find it. _Where's the code?! Did it disintegrate along with Turbo and that Cy-bug when I died at Diet Cola Mountain?_ "The code is gone.." He was mortified. _If anything happens to them, what would I have left?_

Ralph paced around. His head was still killing him, and it wasn't helping him think in the slightest. Neither was everyone standing around or sitting in the stands watching, not like they could really be expected to know what's going on. _If only Felix were here, he might be able to fix her with his hammer somehow._ _Not like that helped with his memory earlier. I can trust King Candy, Vanellope even said so herself that he's not Turbo.._

"**No**, you're coming with me," Ralph said, "You might remember the code when we get there. Besides, **you've** been in there before. You would know better than any of us what to do." _I can't just stand around doing nothing. The girls' condition might be unstable. At worst, I might lose either Vanellope **permanently**.. Or even **both**._ He carefully lifted Vannie up into his arms, since she was just sitting there. _Maybe she can't stand.. _"Get a kart."

"These karts are made for one, you know!" King Candy(1) said, "How do you expect us to fit?!"

"I can drive, you know!" Vannie said in an annoyed tone. _Hello? Racer here.. But Ralph's arms are so comfortable.._ She eased into his arms as best she could. I_ can stand, but.. You love him, don't you? I'm glad.. _

"Absolutely not!" Ralph said softly, "I can't trust you to drive in this condition." _Even though it's pretty much impossible to die in a kart crash in this game I don't want to risk it. Who knows what could happen if she were to die in this state? _He tried to remember anything that could help in this situation and glitched again into yellow code. He remembered, with some effort, his and Vanellope's escape from the Kart Bakery after making her kart. How he 'drove', just like he did on his way into Sugar Rush 2. "**I'll** drive, you sit. Candy, get another kart and drive yourself."

Vannie frowned, but went along with it. _I don't feel like driving anyway.._

"Zombie come too," Zombie said insistently, "Zombie drive for 'Candy Kane'!"

And with that, they headed for the castle. Zombie and King Candy were using Zombie's 'Smartie Kart'. It was decorated with smarties and looked similar to a brain. Ralph grabbed the kart Guile from Street Fighter II had used in a race that had finished minutes before, since it was closest to where they were. Guile didn't seem to mind. He could always just make another one if it got trashed. It was grey and shaped like a rocket. There were flames on the back, painted on with red and orange frosting.

"How you holding up?" Ralph asked Vannie as he furiously propelled the kart with his hands.

"I'm.. Well, we're fine," Vannie said. _I kind of remember this.. Coming from the Kart Bakery with Dad chasing us.. Our memories are getting mixed up.. I don't want to make him worry more though.._ She looked at Diet Cola Mountain, remembering how Ralph almost sacrificed himself to save the game and Vanellope. She smiled and blinked a few times as tears streamed down her cheeks. _He really is a good guy.. No one else can even compare to him, can they?_

Ralph let the kart coast to a stop as they reached the castle. It wasn't the fastest of rides. Zombie and King Candy had to slow their pace to match.

Vannie got out of the kart by herself. It's not like she couldn't walk or anything, although she did feel mentally drained. _Ralph is panicking a little too much Dad split from Turbo safely enough, it seems. Why wouldn't this be the case for me and myself as well?_

As they went inside, a chill went down King Candy(1)'s spine. _It's weird, being back in the castle. I had given up on even seeing it up close again._ "It's this way, behind this curtain," he said, quickening his pace to pull the curtain back. They went into the hidden elevator and went down.

There it was, the entrance to the _code room_.

"You think you can open it?" Ralph asked hopefully. _Surely, even without the code written down.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** For those of you who don't really get where I'm going with this, it's understandable. I get a bit technical here.. I'll explain exactly what's going on with Vanellope and Vannie in the rest of this note. So if you don't want to wait for King Candy(1) to explain it for you later, keep reading this note.

Alright, so what I am going for here, is this.. The way I see it, the files for each character are more like folders in a computer. If you've ever moved a folder somewhere that another folder with the **same name** is, you'll notice it will tell you that if there are any files inside it will ask you if you want to replace them if those have the same name, and it will ask if you still want to merge the folders. It's basically that, without the 'Are you sure you want to do this?' prompt. So inside the 'Vanellope von Schweetz" folder, there are conflicting character sprites as well as their memories getting mixed up because they're sharing the same body. This is the reason for their glitching between Vannie and Vanellope, as the game doesn't know which it should prioritize. The reason this didn't happen in Sugar Rush 2 is that it has a separate directory for 'guests', or non-native game files.


	26. Cooperation

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Evening, Sarge.. Well, I guess I really shouldn't call you that anymore," Jet said from his cell in the Fungeon. His hands were cuffed and he wasn't in the happiest of moods. He had been reflecting on his many mistakes in life before they arrived to question him.

King Candy was up from his nap. He couldn't sleep in the first place. He had heard from Sour Bill that Vannie went off to the first Sugar Rush with Ralph and Vanellope. Him being the king, he was there as well, with Calhoun and Felix, guarded by Wynnchel and Duncan. The other soldiers were given leave to do whatever they want as the criminals were taken care of.

"You're right," Calhoun said, "But lets leave that for after you tell us what the hell you were thinking."_ Just how involved in all this are you? 'Pulled along by the ear', Set says. Yeah right.._

"What would you like to know?" Jet asked, leaning his back against the wall, just below a heavily barred window.

"You may have guessed, but your brother Set is dead," Calhoun said dryly, "We want to know exactly **what** he was hiding in Hero's Duty, and why you've been game jumping, knowing full well what the consequences are." _There's simply no excuse for 'going Turbo'._

Jet looked her in the eyes and took a deep breath. I always _knew_ Set would die before me. _He was reckless and sadistic, and **not at all** concerned about consequences._ _Maybe that's one of the reasons why I stuck with him to the end. To keep him safe from himself.._ "How did he die?" Jet asked solemnly. _I'm despicable.. Why do I feel so relieved that my brother is dead? It's not like I hated him.. He was my brother. My only real family, psychotic or not.. It was just so hard to follow him once we started game jumping.. I followed him my entire life, even before we 'went Turbo'._ _These candy cuffs are nothing compared to the shackles I had before._

"He killed himself, rather than be taken in," Calhoun said dryly, "A shot to the head." _You didn't answer **my** question._

"That's just like him.." Jet said with a somber chuckle. He tried to hold in his tears, not wanting to show weakness, but he couldn't help it. Tears stained his grey cheeks as he began his story. "This dates back to the day before RoadBlasters was unplugged.. By then, Turbo Time was hardly pulling in any quarters, being outclassed by the new game sitting right across from it. The three of us were all on edge, knowing it was only a matter of time before **we** were unplugged. It's a harrowing experience, knowing that your home is on the verge of being disposed of, simply because a new game comes along that does your job better.."

"I'm listening," Calhoun said. She felt as though she had to say something. _I suppose I can understand that sort of feeling. **All** games are destined to be unplugged someday. Be it from a broken screen, exploding motherboard, or just not being as good as the latest thing._

"Turbo came back from Tapper's that night with a napkin. Despite only five people playing Turbo Time to the end that day, he was oddly.. **happy**," Jet said, "In his words, he said he 'shan't' return." _I don't know why he used the word shan't.._ "He scrawled onto two pieces of paper what he called the Konami Code. What we used to take over games. I never found out who he got the code from. Honestly I wasn't interested in finding out. **Set** said it would be fine, as long as we fixed the games back when jumping to another game. But one after another, the games got unplugged when we left. A total of four out of seven we'd gone into were unplugged.. It was as if the characters knew we were controlling them and couldn't cope with the experience or something.. Of course we know that for certain by now, I guess.. But it was so much better than the prospect of sitting around Game Central Station all day with nothing to do. And besides, after Turbo went Turbo, nobody would have wanted anything to do with us. Hell, they may have even tried to kill us.." _Living in another game any other way just a pipe dream._

"So you kept doing it, **knowing** you were dooming games to the same fate that Turbo Time met," Calhoun said. _You're no better than Turbo was, are you.._

"Yes.. It's not something that I'm proud of," Jet said solemnly, "But it was better than the alternative.." _I deserve to die for what I've done as well.._

"Well.. Why couldn't you have just, you know.. Added yourselves in as new characters instead of taking over other peoples' lives?" King Candy asked confusedly.

"We never figured out how to do it, honestly," Jet said, "Taking someone over is as simple as merging your file onto theirs. The first time we did it, we were afraid that **we** would instead be the ones controlled, but we had gotten used to it after a few times.. To completely make a new character from scratch, that would be a completely different matter. You have to consider your appearance, the personality you want to display, what memories, if any, to repress to stay in character, and any special attributes they may have.. Then there's also modifying memories of already existing characters so that they don't think you're out of place.. It's far too advanced compared to what we knew how to do." _Although we did have decades to learn. I let Set handle all of that though.._

"And as for what Set hid in Hero's Duty?" Calhoun asked. _You still haven't answered that. I need to know if I'm walking into a trap._

"I have no idea.." Jet said with a sigh, "The past few games, I didn't even go into the code room once. We hardly ever spoke out of character when we were in the middle of a game jump as well. It was something Set suggested after nearly getting caught in Star Wars. If there is anything, he probably didn't even know what it was himself until **after** Markowski kicked us out of Loya and Spears, as he tends to hide those sorts of memories. He likely wouldn't have left a trap, in case he came back to it later, not remembering what it was." _So I don't know what he would have left.._

"You're being awfully compliant," Calhoun said, "Why?"

"It's over," Jet said, "It was over the moment I was caught trying to take over this game. I'm actually relieved, believe it or not. So do what you want. I won't fight you." _If you're going to kill me, just please make it quick.._ He swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry," King Candy said solemnly, "I have an idea that I would like to run by you, Mrs. Fix-It.." _Is that her last name or?.. _"I know how to make new avatars in this game.. Would you mind if I take him in? I feel bad about leaving him like this.. If he's just going to be locked up forever, he might as well be **dead**. And I believe he feels remorse for what he's done, so I wouldn't feel right in executing him either.." _If we can be sure that he'll never take over another game, then there can surely be no harm in letting him live.._

"I don't think that would be wise.." Calhoun said firmly, "The fact that he's done this kind of thing before suggests that he would do it **again** if given the chance. Even if he is remorseful for what he's done." _We can't be so sure it will work out.._

"Jaminy.." Felix said to himself before speaking up, "Well, what if we just.. erase the bits about the code and code room from his memory? Wouldn't that be fine?" _Won't he be harmless after that? Well, no more dangerous than the average racer.._

Jet sat there quietly, listening. His heart skipped a beat at the prospect of possibly becoming a racer again. _That's the best I could possibly hope for in life.. It's been **decades** since I last raced, not counting the chase a while ago.. There's always been this itch in our code that we could never scratch in fear of being discovered.._ He sniffled. _I just want my old way of life back.. I know it's selfish, but.._

Calhoun stared at Jet for a while as he looked up at the ceiling. "Can that really even be done?" she asked reluctantly. _If he can't take over games.._

"I would appreciate it, if you can do it.." Jet said humbly, "But the Konami Code didn't work. It's the reason I was caught. The developers of this game must have gotten wise to something going on and changed it somehow.." _The Konami Code was always a universal code for code rooms. I don't know what made it change now.._

"What are you talking about?" King Candy asked confusedly, "I don't know about this 'Konami Code', but I **know** the code to enter this game's code room. Why wouldn't I? Is it just me?" This caught everyone by surprise. It's the first they heard of someone knowing the code without having it given to them from somewhere else.

"C-could I come with you?" Jet asked nervously, immediately realizing the audacity of the question, "If you'll allow it, I'd like to pick my name and stuff.." _I know I should be satisfied with whatever I get. I **will** be.. But.._ He clenched his fists in frustration with himself. _I'm so selfish.._

"What do you think, Tammy?" Felix asked earnestly. _It would be a different matter if this were **Set**_, _but Jet seems to genuinely regret what he did despite the fact that he kept doing it. I can't help but feel sorry for him. If the root of the problem is taken care of, then surely it would be okay to let him free.._

Calhoun sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Fine," she said reluctantly. _It's not that I don't feel sorry for him. But erasing memories to make someone a 'productive member of society' doesn't sit well with me either, even if the person **is** willing._

"So what name did you have in mind, son?" King Candy asked softly. _I'll give you a good life here, don't you worry.._

"I was thinking of something along the lines of **Jet Chocolisto**," Jet said apprehensively, "I saw a kid eating something called a 'Jet chocolate bar' one day, so it should fit in, right?"_ The kid no doubt smuggled it in._

"Alright, take him with us," King Candy said to the guards with a laugh, "Just don't let him into the code room. Sorry boy, I hope you understand."

"Of course.." Jet said anxiously. He was getting excited and it showed. He couldn't help but get antsy, having a chance to live for himself and do what he loves most.

King Candy had them all face the other way before he entered the code flawlessly. _Why wouldn't the ruler of the game know the code? Or maybe it's because of the fact that the game doesn't use the Konami Code that I know.. _"So what do you want to look like, son?" King Candy asked softly, "Grey skin just won't do, I'm afraid." _You know that, I'm sure._

"That's fine, I didn't like it in the first place.." Jet said hesitantly, "Could you just recolor another male avatar? Maybe something in blue.." _Honestly a recolor wouldn't be ideal, but I can't ask for more than that.._

"Consider it done, Jet Chocolisto," King Candy said before entering the code room. It was a simple matter for him, locating the memories associated with how to hijack games. All he had to do was do a keyword search, memories being in text form to save space. After that, as far as the game was concerned, he was now a **real racer_,_** with a tragic past. _You'll fit in just fine, Jet.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, so that settles the matter with Jet.. In case you're curious where I got Chocolisto from, it's a product by the same company that makes Jet chocolate bars. It seemed like a good last name, being a combination of chocolate and the last name Calisto, so I picked it.


	27. Hologram

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

As Felix and Calhoun left Sugar Rush 2, they were approached by Alex.

"Hey Felix, Calhoun," Alex said happily, "Ralph asked me to inform you that he has headed to Game Station East, and has gone to Sugar Rush. Oh, and he was accompanied by both Vanellope of both Sugar Rush 1 and 2.. He figured Felix here may be a bit worried." He winked.

"Now **that** sets off a red flag," Calhoun said wryly, "Three wildcards traveling together." _It almost sounds like Ralph may have found himself a girlfriend, too.._

"Is it that bad?" Felix asked worriedly. _I can't for the life of me recall who Vanellope is. I won't force it though, since it makes Tammy upset.._

"I'm sure it's nothing," Calhoun said wryly, "But what is it with girls named Vanellope and Ralph?" She chuckled to herself as she imagined Ralph as a giant magnet that worked on girls named Vanellope. _What's wrong with me?_

"I appreciate the message, Alex," Felix said cheerfully. _I'm a bit surprised that Ralph is hanging around with people, but it means that Ralph is likely in high spirits._

"Any time," Alex said before excusing himself and zipping across the surge protector to chat up some guys from Street Fighter II who were casually talking about a certain zombie.

Felix and Calhoun didn't waste any time getting back to Hero's Duty to find out what little surprise Set left for them. The game was in exactly the same state Markowski had left it in. Markowski had given Calhoun the code before she left Sugar Rush 2, and told her more or less how to look around in the files. From his experience anyway..

The couple entered the church. The very same one in which they were involuntarily glitched into the same yellow code he had become slightly accustomed to, no longer being surprised when it happened.

"Jiminy **jaminy**! I **know** this place! I.. We got **married** here!" Felix said excitedly as he hopped around, "Ralph! He was the **best man**! And Vanellop! She was the maid of honor! **Agh**.. Oh man, this is great!" _I still don't remember **everything**, but this is certainly something I'm glad to remember! _Tears streamed down his cheeks as he remembered pulling her down for their kiss. _I'm so happy.._ He sniffled and chuckled in embarrassment.

Hearing the excitement in Felix's voice made Calhoun's heart skip a beat and brought a smile to her face. She knelt down to his level and hugged him tightly, feeling almost as if she might cry as well. She tenderly kissed him on the lips. _We still have work to do.. _"You don't have to hold yourself back anymore," she said warmly as she stood back up, laughing at her own foolishness. "Come on." _We can catch up when we're done here._

They entered the confessional Markowski told them about and Calhoun entered the new code that Markowski had changed it to. The door opened and the two went inside.

"Oh my land," Felix said while looking at all of the files, "This place is** incredible**.." _It's the first time I've seen anything like this._ The entire room was pitch black, except for the small glow emanating from the files themselves. The wires connecting the files together glowed occasionally as data transferred through them. "What exactly are we supposed to find in this place?"

"Set said 'something important' was in the 'Memory' file," Calhoun said softly, "It's anyone's guess what that might be." _I'm sure it can't be that hard to spot._

"Memory.. You mean like **my** memory?" Felix asked. _Maybe mine is there too.. My old one. I did start remembering things once I came to Hero's Duty.. Or maybe that's just coincidence._

"You're right, your memory could be in there.." Calhoun said, "But he said it was something he had hidden, so I'm guessing it's something else.."

After searching for a few minutes, they finally found it, the Memory file. Calhoun tapped it twice with her left hand to open it. There was a file in there named 'Something Important', oddly enough. _Alright, so is it a trap?_ Calhoun hesitantly tapped it twice to see what was inside.

"Hello~ **Tamora**!" a hologram of Set said in a satisfied tone.

"**You**!" Calhoun said surprisedly. _Maybe this was a mistake after all.._

"Oh, don't worry yourself," Set said with a laugh, "If you're watching this, it means that I'm most likely dead, or we've at least been found out.. By the way, if anyone other than Tamora or I opened this file, the game will melt down in **one minute**.."

"What?!" Felix yelled. _Jaminy! I'm glad **she** opened it!_

"Kidding, kidding," Set's hologram said, "But if this **isn't** Tamora, I would appreciate it if you closed the file now and went get her. This isn't about **you**... We good? Alright. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your victory. You're one of the few people I've come to respect, and it's no wonder. It was most definitely **fun** being hunted by you, if that's what happened.. I'm assuming that you've opened this file after I told you I hid 'something important' here."

Felix and Calhoun looked at each other in confusion then looked back at the hologram.

"Since I'm probably dead," Set's hologram said with a sigh, "I have no qualms with telling you what I was planning. In case you're wondering, this was recorded the day before Mr. Litwak got Sugar Rush 2. Naturally you may think that my brother and I planned to take over that game. However that would be only half correct. You see.. I was smitten from the very moment I laid eyes on you. Your fiery attitude, your gorgeous looks.. Yes, I was in **love**. That's why **my** next target wasn't Sugar Rush 2 at all. That was just for Jet's sake. To be honest, despite whatever plan you think I had.. In the end, my target was **Felix**.. He's a lucky man, Tamora. Cherish him. I was waiting a long time for this chance. It's a shame I failed."

Felix had a look on his face as if he had been hit by a truck. _If Markowski hadn't taken charge, I would likely be controlled by Set by now. Doing this and that as he pleased.._ He swallowed hard.

"Oh, and since I'm dead you can fix Markowski, Loya and Spears if you haven't done so already," Set's hologram said plainly, "I really put Markowski through the wringer after he **almost** stopped us. You should have seen it." Set's hologram laughed. "Oh, I do have one final favor to ask of you.. If Jet is alive.. **Please** don't hate him. He's had it rough, and it's all my fault. As payment I will give you this one piece of information. If you're interested in who gave Turbo the code that day.. If I'm right, he now goes by the name **Bobby Dunderson**. _He lives in_ _X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2_. You can't miss him. But do be aware, he isn't alone. Consider this a late wedding gift. It's been fun, Tamora. **Goodbye**." The hologram blinked for a moment and faded out.

Had Set succeeded, this message would have been deleted by then.

"Jeepers.." Felix said in disbelief. _I've never been so grateful for anything in all my life.._

"Well.. That was interesting.." Calhoun said plainly. _I don't quite know what to think about all that._ She was flattered. She was furious. But most of all she was grateful that he was stopped. "Shall I do the honors? There's two memory files with your name on it right here.." _I'm guessing I just have to merge these two together.._

"Go for it!" Felix said excitedly with a grin, "I can hardly wait!" _Why one has (1) after it is beyond me.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Some of you may know of Bobby from a deleted scene. If not, you can look it up if you'd like. Technically he was going to be a character in Hero's Duty, but I changed that to fit with where this is going. Also the code he uses in that scene is different.

Set's message should hopefully shed a bit more light on Set's character. He forgot to mention something here as well.


	28. That's Not How It Happened

**Author's Note:** This chapter steps into slightly weird territory. I hope you like that kind of thing ;).

**Additional Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"Look Ralph, I'm no good with remembering sequences, okay?" King Candy(1) said, "I remember at the end there was '_B A Start_', but that's about it. There were lots of ups, downs, lefts and rights.." _In which order is anyone's guess._

"Well this is getting us **nowhere**.." Ralph said disappointedly. _Fine, **I'll** do it.. I'll just use the brute force method. _He punched the door leaving a dent. He winced. _That **hurt**!_ He punched it again harder, this time leaving a larger dent. Some skin peeled off of his knuckles which made him briefly yell in pain. _This door is tougher than anything I've ever wrecked in my life.. I've never hurt myself doing it before.._ _I can't keep underestimating this door's strength._ With two final punches infused with all of his might and rage, the door busted open. "We'll just have Felix fix it later." He took deep breaths to calm down.

"My hero," Vannie said sarcastically. _I mean it, Ralph.. Thank you.. You get it, Ralph! Maybe now we can get me out of here..  
_

Hearing those words, Ralph remembered the medal Vanellope had given him and the circumstances surrounding it. He briefly glitched as the sudden surge of information wormed its way into his consciousness, causing another heightened flash of pain. "Remembering stuff **sucks**," he said, "It's making this headache worse.." _I don't like to complain.. I'm **glad** my memory is starting to return, but with each new memory returned, my head feels like it is being split open like a melon. _They went inside the code room. "So what are we looking for?" _First time I've been in this kind of place.._

"If I had to guess, it would be in her file," King Candy(1) said, "And I think I may have an idea why it happened, though it's just a **theory**.." _I've only ever watched whatever Turbo did in here. It's not like I knew what he was thinking.. Although it was certainly the other way around._

"So are you going to tell us?" Vannie asked._ I'm so tired from all this.. I won't say anything because it'll make Ralph worry, but my headache has been getting worse as well. There has to be some kind of connection there.._

"Sorry. If I'm right, it's because you share the same name as your counterpart," King Candy(1) said. _I'm afraid I don't even know which one I'm talking to anymore. Is she Vanellope from Sugar Rush 2? She's certainly using her character model.. _ "Sugar Rush isn't quite as advanced as some newer games, after all. From what Ralph told me, it would seem as though Sugar Rush 2 is able to cope with it somehow. Maybe it saves guests in a different directory or something.." _If we can manage, all it would take is creating a separate directory for guest files here as well.._

"Ugh.. Yeah, you lost me," Ralph said disappointedly. _I've got no idea what he's going on about. So it's because their names are the same. Saving and directories is beyond me though.._

"Well let's first start by **finding** her file," King Candy(1) said, "We can figure out what to do next after that.." _Don't feel too bad, Ralph. I don't really understand this stuff that well either._

"There's **hundreds** of files though!" Vannie said in an annoyed tone, "What the heck even are half of these things?" She glitched to her younger form and back again. _Sheesh.. Is this all I'm gonna do__ until we're split back up? Play backseat_ _driver?__ Sorry.. I don't think she can even hear me though._

"Just look for one with your name on it, I guess," Ralph said while furrowing his brow, looking for Vanellope's file, "Didn't Sour Bill say something about locking up memories? Is that related?"

"Well, yes!" King Candy(1) said, "There should be three directories for memory around here somewhere, but without a separate body for the memories to go into.."

"Why three?" Ralph asked. _I can understand maybe two, one for guests and one for ones in the game.._

"Well," King Candy said, "one for **racer** memory, another for **citizen** memory, and the third is for **guests**, like yourself." _Why racer and citizen memory is split up is beyond me.. I suppose that would make it easier to program the game or something though. But then why is there one for guests?_

"So wait.." Ralph said contemplatively, "Let's suppose I were to open the guest memory thing, could I access **my** memories like that?" _Maybe there's some sort of shortcut to this whole memory restoration process.._

"Yes, I would imagine so," King Candy(1) said, "Not that I've.. Well, not that **Turbo** ever tried.. All **he** did was lock them up. He never opened them or anything. Once he did that, all he had to do was explain it away saying it was because the game had just gotten plugged in." _Of course he did a lot of personality alterations to the racers as well after they tried to help Vanellope race a few times.._

"Okay, well I'm going to keep an eye out for that," Ralph said. _Vanellope and Vannie are the top priority, but if I can get my memory back faster, and possibly get rid of this headache, I'll take it in a heartbeat._

"Zombie just here for moral support," Zombie said as he floated around in the room with his arms crossed, still holding his hatchets, "Not want to mess anything up."

"Thanks, Zombie," Ralph said with a smile, "It's good to have you around." _You always were one for moral support.._

"It make good story for meeting too," Zombie said.

After a few minutes Ralph happened to find the 'Guests' Memory' directory, not that he was looking for it first. _Oddly enough it's nowhere near the other two memory directories.._

"Well, I found the guest memory thing here," Ralph said plainly. _No idea what to do with it though.._

"Tap it twice with your left hand if you want," King Candy(1) said, "It's better to do it **now** in case we lose track of it. I'll keep looking in this direction." _Jumbotron. No.._

Ralph did what he was told as lightly as he could. "Woah!" he yelped as it opened, "Well **that** surprised me.. Hey, why are there _two_ with my name on it in here? There's one with a number after it." _In 'parentheses' even.._

"It's probably because your game was reset," King Candy(1) said, "Just merge.. Well, I guess you wouldn't know how to do that.. Tap it with your **right** hand and there should be an option to merge it with another. Just tap **that** and the other with your **left** hand. It's actually quite simple." _Maybe I should do it rather than explain it.. Well it looks like he's got it.._ He shrugged and continued looking.

Ralph swallowed, even though his throat was dry. He did as instructed, praying he didn't touch another file by mistake and just floated there quietly.

"Ralph, did it work?" King Candy asked, "Ralph?"

* * *

Meanwhile in Hero's Duty's code room, Calhoun did the same for Felix.

Felix suddenly found himself standing outside of the door to the penthouse in Fix-It Felix Jr., where some kind of party was taking place.

"Hey Felix. Just wanted to check on ya. I saw a big uh, explosion or something go over the building there," Ralph said sheepishly.

"Oh, those are.. just fireworks.." Felix said nervously. _This is so familiar.._ _How did I know he was talking about fireworks?_

"Fireworks, okay. Phew. Is it somebody's birthday? **Or**..?" Ralph asked unconvincingly.

"Well, it's more of an **anniversary**. The **30th** anniversary of our game, actually," Felix said. The words just rolled out of his mouth as if they had already been spoken. _This.._

"What?! **30 years**? And you're having a party **without** me?" Ralph asked accusingly, "Out of the way, I'm going inside." He shoved Felix aside and went in. "Heyo!"

"This isn't how it happened.." Felix said before following him inside, "Stop it **Ralph**!"

"And why should I?" Ralph asked, "For **30 years** you lot have been throwing me in the mud. And what thanks do **I** get? Do I get a slice of cake? No? Do I get a place atop the cake with everyone else? **Gene**! Your only purpose is to get thrown out of the building!"

"Ralph, calm down!" Felix said anxiously, "This** isn't** how it happened!"

"This is how it **should** have happened!" Ralph said insistently, "Look at you, Felix. You've never lived in a dump. You've only been treated like a criminal once. Twice if you count with Calhoun. But **me**? How do you think it feels to be avoided for **30 years**? You knew what was going on. You didn't even **try** to stop it. What's wrong with you, man?"

They were suddenly the only two in the room. Everyone else had disappeared in an instant as if they had turned to smoke.

"I'm **sorry**, Ralph! You have to believe me, I never wanted it to be that way.." Felix said frustratedly, "You're right, I **should** have said something. I should have **done** something, but it's too late to change what happened." _There isn't a single day where I don't think about it at least once.._

"You're right, but I don't have to like it.." Ralph said picking him up by the back of his shirt, "Come on, we're going to Hero's Duty. Let's get this over with."

Ralph immediately dropped him on the ground as the scenery around them shifted into that of Hero's Duty's gameplay area. "He's all yours," Ralph said to Calhoun as he casually picked up a baby Cy-bug and walked out of the exit_._

"Slick tiddlywinking pint-size," Calhoun said while pointing a gun at Felix's face before putting it away.

"Uh.. Tammy?" Felix said with a nervous laugh. _Jeepers.._

"That's not how it happened, short stack," Calhoun said sarcastically, setting down her cruiser, "Hop on, we're going to Sugar Rush. Wreck-It had a Cy-bug with him. Got to find it before it lays its filthy eggs." As he did what she said, the scenery shifted around them into Sugar Rush.

"This is so confusing," Felix said while scratching his head. _Am I dreaming?_

"Well of course you're dreaming," Calhoun said wryly, "You don't think this is all **really** happening, do you? Be glad we're guiding you through it."

"Huh?" Felix asked. _How did you know what I was thinking?_ Felix's head was practically spinning as his code processed the sudden surge of information he was being assaulted with.

"Here comes the best part," Calhoun said jokingly, tossing him into Nesquik Sand and jumping in herself.

"Jiminy jaminy. **Really**?" Felix said apprehensively. _You're not going to punch me in the face are you?.._

"Relax, Felix," Calhoun said wryly before kissing him tenderly on lips, "It's good enough that you know what really happened."

"You really _are_ one dynamite gal," Felix said in a satisfied tone. He yelped as fell through the Nesquik Sand and landed on his feet in the _Fungeon_. He was facing the window, its thick bars mocking him silently.

"You sure showed those bars who's boss," Ralph said wryly with his arms crossed. Felix turned around and saw Ralph leaning against a busted down wall.

"You're not still mad at me, are you?" Felix asked hesitantly.

"Fix this kart for me and maybe I won't be," Ralph said warmly as he dumped broken kart pieces out of a garbage bin, "There's a little girl whose only hope is this kart.."

Felix hit it with his hammer, restoring it to its former.. 'glory'. _This hammer can only do so much.._

"Yeah.. It **really** looks like that," Ralph said with a laugh.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So yeah, Ralph and Felix are having nice little weird dreams as their memories are returned. I hope you like it.

Okay, so this may be a bit confusing about why there are two memory files for Ralph and Felix. I just kind of figured that rather than replacing memory files outright, the game is a little bit more benevolently designed, so it just creates a new file with (1) at the end, but they're both still being accessed by the same character, which is causing headaches from the strain of doing so (kind of like a computer trying to use too much ram, I would imagine), with increasing pain the more of the original they access.

The same is happening to Vanellope, more or less. To see what I'm getting at here with the number at the end of the file, go to a folder and copy two different files over into it. Select both of them at the same time and right click on one and rename it to something. Depending on your operating system one will either be just that name and the other having (1), or one will have (1) and one will have (2). Mine does the latter of the two.

As for the dreams, I think it's just an interesting way to have them remember everything while still not fixing it instantly, because I don't think that'd be very interesting to be honest.


	29. Moral Support

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

After selecting to merge his memory files together, Ralph suddenly found himself standing outside of the door to the penthouse in Fix-It Felix Jr., where some kind of party was taking place.

"Hey Felix. Just wanted to check on ya. I saw a big uh, explosion or something go over the building there," Ralph said sheepishly. _What the heck am I talking about? He looked around curiously._

"Oh, those are.. just fireworks.." Felix said cheerfully.

"Fireworks, okay. Phew. Is it somebody's birthday? **Or**..?" Ralph asked unconvincingly. _I remember this exchange.. But why is it happening again? And how did I get back into my game?_

"Well, it's more of an **anniversary**. The **30th** anniversary of our game, actually," Felix said cheerfully, "They're about to bring out the cake. Want to come in and have a slice?"

"Huh? Oh, uh sure.." Ralph said as he and Felix went inside. _This isn't how it happened though.._

"Hey Ralph, you son of a gun," Gene said cheerfully, "Glad you could make it."

"We were waiting for you Ralph," Mary said cheerfully, "Where have you been?"

"Oh, I uh.. I was having a meeting, talking to some friends," Ralph said. _What's going on?_

"Zombie just here for moral support," Zombie said, "Ooh, cake!"

"Why is here?" Gene asked rudely as the other Nicelanders quickly backed away.

"He's just here for a slice of cake," Felix said with a nervous smile.

"**That's** where I draw the line," Ralph said in an annoyed tone, "Zombie is one of my best friends, and I will **not** stand for you being rude to him! This isn't even how it happened." The Nicelanders disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Zombie think Ralph shouldn't be such a downer," Zombie said while shaking his head, "This make things interesting for Ralph."

"Right, I'm sorry I just, you lost me there," Ralph said confusedly.

"Zombie guide Ralph. We go to Hero's Duty next," Zombie said, "Ralph not need see **everything**. You remember anyway."

Ralph could hear soldiers yelling, "Beacon up!" in the distance as he was suddenly hit over the head with a helmet.

"**Markowski**! What's the first rule of Hero's Duty?!" Calhoun asked viciously as the world had shifted around him and Zombie into that of Hero's Duty.

"Never interfere with the first person shooter?" Ralph asked hesitantly. He was hit over the head with a helmet again.

"That's **right**!" Calhoun said.

"So why'd I get hit again?!" Ralph asked in an annoyed tone as he rubbed his head. _Well at least I didn't feel that. Actually, my headache is gone too now that I think about it.._

"Because you did it **anyway**," Calhoun said firmly, "**Your** job is to climb to the top of that building so you can steal a medal, and that's **it**. So stick to the program soldier!"

"Wait wait wait wait.. Wait," Ralph said with a sigh, "Can someone **please** explain to me what the heck is going on?" _That was too many 'waits'.._

"RAAAGH! Zombie tell Ralph, since want to know so bad," Zombie said, "Ralph dreaming while memory restoring. Head hurt otherwise, also **slower**!"

"So wait, you mean I fell **asleep**?! I gotta get **back**!" Ralph insisted._ I should be in the code room of Sugar Rush. I'm supposed to be helping Vanellope and.. I wonder if she would mind me calling her Vannie?_ The world suddenly shifted around him into Sugar Rush. He was climbing a candy tree in the Candy Tree Forest.

"Hello!" Vanellope suddenly said. She was on a branch of the same tree slightly higher up.

"Vanellope!" Ralph said with a smile.

"I think you should be worrying about **yourself**, Mister.." Vanellope said as she hopped down the branches holding the medal she made for Ralph, "Double stripe!"

Ralph fell from the branch he was holding and grabbed onto another, nearly falling into green taffy. _No no no. Not the taffy.._

"See ya chum!" Vanellope said cheerfully as she skipped away holding the medal.

"Come back!" Ralph pleaded, "I need to talk to you!" _Don't go.._

"Double stripe!" Vanellope yelled cheerfully as the branch Ralph was holding onto broke, and he fell into the taffy. She continued skipping away to the racetrack.

"**Vanellope**!" Ralph yelled as he struggled to get out of the pool of taffy. _This is the weirdest dream I've ever had.. Especially since I'm fully aware of what's going on. I can't wake up no matter what I try.._ He ran after her as best he could, but the taffy was hardening around him, which made it quite difficult. _I hate taffy more than chocolate right now.._

"Wreck-it Ralph!" King Candy(1) said from atop his stand as Ralph approached where Vanellope was hiding. His clothes were still tattered and he still wasn't wearing his crown. "I will **not** allow you to ruin this track a second time!" He pulled a rope and an over-sized cupcake fell out of the sky and landed on Ralph, which he got stuck inside.

Ralph lost his balance fell over. The scenery shifted around them into that of the castle.

"Well here we are again, Ralph," King Candy(1) said in a satisfied tone as he got out of his white and gold, sugar-sprinkled kart which was currently acting as a throne, "Vanellope is at the Junkyard, you know. Perhaps you will find the answers you're looking for **there**.. Zombie, get him out of that cupcake, will you?" He smirked. "Goodbye, Wreck-It Ralph. It's been a pleasure." He hopped into his kart and drove out of the castle.

"With **pleasure**!" Zombie said with a grin as he prepared to swing his hatchets at the cupcake.

"What?! **No**! Get away from me!" Ralph yelled as he rolled around and managed to get on his feet.

"Ralph need take it easy!" Zombie yelled cheerfully as Ralph ran off and broke through the wall, smashing the cupcake upon landing on the ground.

He couged and suddenly found himself in the Junkyard watching the little racers tease Vanellope. It set something off inside Ralph, remembering exactly what happened before. _Like hell I'm about to let them do it a second time, dream or not. It's bad enough remembering that it happened a first time. I always felt guilty about that.. _"Hey! Leave her alone! RAAAAAAAAGH!" Ralph yelled as he chased the little racers off and broke a few lollypop trees and kicked up some hot chocolate dust in the process. He breathed heavily, despite the fact he was dreaming.

After calming down, Ralph sat down on a jawbreaker and looked over to Vanellope. She was leaning on another jawbreaker nearby, grinning and looking at him intently. _Not going to run away again?_

"So what did you want to talk about?" Vanellope asked with a mischievous grin.

Ralph sighed deeply. _What exactly **is** it that I want to say? I was so focused on finding her that I didn't even think it through that far._ He scratched his head. "You were right, you know.." _First thing that comes to mind.. _"I did want to spend more time alone with the older you."

"That hurts, Ralph," Vanellope said with a frown, "Am I really not fun enough to hang around with?"

"Of course you are!" Ralph said insistently, "It's different.. There are just.. **She's** different. When I saw her for the first time, the only thing I could see in her was you, I'll admit it.. I didn't remember anything specific, just that you meant _a _lot to me. I felt that I would even shift mountains for you.. And then you came along and changed everything around. It confused me.." _I still would shift mountains for you.._

"Is that so?" Vanellope asked dejectedly.

"When you asked me if you were getting in the way of anything between me and her, I was shocked," Ralph explained, "I may not have been fully conscious of it at the time, but you were exactly right. You were getting in the way, and I **hate** to say it like that. I loved you like a daughter, I still **do**.. But seeing her. Seeing **you** all grown up.. It changed things. I feel guilty. I feel as though I'm betraying you somehow.."

"Aww, Ralph!" Vanellope said disappointedly, "This is **exactly** the problem here! I'm **not** her! Don't you have any idea how hurt we would be if we actually heard you say something like that?"

"What?" Ralph asked in disbelief. What does she mean? Actually I did pretty much tell the older her that very thing..

"Zombie here!" Zombie said as he suddenly popped up, "It okay, Vanellope. Zombie explain in way Ralph understand.. Look at these two." Zombie pointed at two tall spearmint flavored starlight mint-headed citizens of Sugar Rush that suddenly popped up. "They not same person. Only look that way on surface." He dropped a hatchet and snapped his fingers. Magic sparkles briefly surrounded one of them and they turned into a peppermint flavored starlight mint-headed citizen. "Now just more obvious. Ralph see girls like same person, but they **not**. Zombie disappointed in Ralph. Thought Ralph **better** than that. Zombie going talk to Candy Kane. Hope Ralph understand now."

Zombie walked away for a while then stopped, came back and picked up his hatchet and said, "Zombie almost forget hatchet.. Come on ladies. We leave two alone." Zombie draped his hatchet-wielding arms over the two cheerful mint-headed citizens and walked away some before the three of them turned into smoke and vanished.

"Right.." Ralph said. _Zombie may not have explained it eloquently, but he's right. They're not the same person and I shouldn't be treating them as if they are.._

"Look, Ralphie.." Vanellope said seriously, "You can't keep thinking like that. But don't worry. I'm a little kid. You two can keep that adult stuff to yourselves, I don't need it. I don't even want it.. That's gross. But we'd better still hang out all the time, or I'll **never** forgive you." She hugged him and put the medal she had made around his neck and hopped into the kart she and Ralph made together. "Now if you don't mind, I've got a race to win."

"Thanks, kid," Ralph said with a smile as he stood up from the jawbreaker.

Vanellope waved and drove away, disappearing into smoke.

Ralph could hear soft footsteps behind him. He turned around, and saw Vannie with her arms crossed.

"We good?" Vannie asked hopefully.

"We're good," Ralph said warmly. _I've never been so sure of anything in my life.._

Ralph woke up with his memory fully restored, though his eyes had yet to open. _Oh, come on! It was getting to a good part!_

* * *

**Author's Note:** There's a reason I didn't add Vannie to Ralph's dream until the very end. It's got nothing to do with her not being on his mind or anything. It's just that what he needs to say to her is best said to the **real** Vannie.

Ralph and Felix's memory technically isn't **fully** restored, but it's close. There's still the final moments in Fix-It Felix Jr. before it was reset that are unaccounted for.


	30. Calling Her Vannie

**Author's Note:** This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.

* * *

"It's about time you woke up," Calhoun said wryly, "Gave me quite the scare when you stopped moving." _I'd have kept panicking if not for the loading bar on your file.._

"It's good to be back," Felix said cheerfully as he suddenly hugged her tightly, overcome by emotion seeing her again with all of his memories restored. _I love you **so much**.._

"Let's not celebrate **too** early, we still have to worry about this Dunderson character," Calhoun said wryly as she hugged him back, "And while you were sleeping, I found this key in here as well. Not sure what that's about." She was holding a tiny file with a key icon on it.

Felix looked at it curiously. _What's it go to? I guess it doesn't pay to ask though, since she literally just said she doesn't know._

Calhoun floated over to her file and placed the key inside. A key generated in her hand. _I thought that's how it'd work.._

"Guess it goes to this box over here," Calhoun said as she floated over to what resembled an ammo crate. She unlocked and opened the box. "A memory for Markowski.. Is that it? Somehow I'm disappointed." She merged it into Markowski's memory file. "Alright, let's go find Ralph. Who knows what kind of trouble he's been getting into with Vanellope squared." _That'll get a little confusing with two girls named Vanellope.._

* * *

Somewhere over in Sugar Rush 2, Markowski suddenly remembered getting surprised from behind after nearly preventing Set and Jet from breaking into the code room.

Markowski and Spears were having lunch outside with Candlehead and Jubileena at 'Cafe DiCaramello', an indoor/outdoor restaurant. It used to be just a cafe that served coffee, tea, and sweets, but it expanded to include a larger menu over the years. It was a nice place with glass surfaced tables with metal frames. At each table was a large white umbrella with brown swirls to provide shade. The building itself was made of smooth white chocolate drizzled with milk chocolate and a caramel door. The corners of the building were bricked with dark chocolate.

"Are you okay, Leon?" Candlehead asked as Markowski briefly glitched when the memory returned. _That looked a little painful.._

"Yeah I'm fine, just remembered something that happened a while back, nothing important though," Markowski said after taking a sip of coffee with cream and lots of sugar. Otherwise he finds coffee undrinkable.

"You could have told me earlier I had stuff drawn on my face, you know," Spears said with a sigh. _Not a good way to make a good first impression. Sheesh, and then there's the fact that they practically saw me naked. I'm surprised they can look at me with a straight face._

"You were wearing a helmet," Jubileena said with a laugh, "Besides, it's not like it was anything **indecent**." _Like when you were just in your underwear.. I hope you don't think I'm being mean.._

"I can't believe Sarge let that guy become a racer though," Spears said with a frown, "Well, as long as he doesn't do anything unnecessary it should be fine." _At least the guy who was controlling **me** is dead.. _He was the last one eating, a partially eaten lemon tart was still on his plate. At first he didn't expect to be all that great, but he could see himself coming again for another some other time.

"Well, we'll see how it goes," Jubileena said with a sigh, "I don't know if I can trust someone who used to control people though.." _I'm not so convinced Jet is suddenly a good guy, but I'll at least give him a chance to prove himself. I'm sure I'd feel differently if he had actually taken over the game though. Either way, it's not like he can take over games anymore thanks to King Candy erasing those memories._

* * *

In Sugar Rush 2's code room, King Candy(1) floated over to where Ralph was to see why he was unresponsive. With a concerned look in his eyes he waved a hand in front of Ralph's open eyes. He looked over into the 'Guests' Memory' directory where Ralph was digging through and saw that his memory was at 2%. It slowly ticked ahead to 3%.

"Guess that's normal then," King Candy(1) said reluctantly before closing Ralph's eyes for him and floating off. It wasn't long before he finally located Vanellope's file. He hesitated for a moment before opening it. _It's more ordered than expected, despite it having character data for two. _"Vanellope, I found it. You should be the one to do it after all.. Vanellope?" _She's passed out. This is worse than I thought.. So I've really got to do this then. Developers, **please** don't let me mess this up.._ "Zombie, could you keep an eye on Ralph and Vanellope for me?" _This isn't right. The game is forcibly merging the two of them into one entity, trying to work out which of the two it should prioritize.._

"Yes!" Zombie said, "Zombie have faith in Candy Kane."

* * *

At the same time, inside Vannie's mind. Her and Vannie were having a heated discussion, seemingly in Sugar Rush's Junkyard, surrounded by jawbreakers.

"Well this is just **great**," Vanellope said sarcastically, "I like you and all, but I don't need to have anyone else inside my head.." _I'd like to have my body to myself, thanks. You can keep yours._

"It's not like I wanted it to be like this either, you know?" Vannie said with a sigh, "It's **your** game's fault this all happened."

"Look, we can toss around blame all we want," Vanellope said, "But in the end, one of us is going to disappear.."

"Oh? How do you figure?" Vannie asked incredulously. _Don't be ridiculous.._

"Well I mean think about it," Vanellope said somberly, "It's been all **you** out there for a while now, I've just been swimming around in here unable to do anything. I can't see any other outcome here. But that's fine though.. Ralph probably can't choose one of us, but in the end this is what he needs.." _He's such a numbskull. He's holding himself back because of me.._

"What? No it's **not**!" Vannie said incredulously, "How can you even say that?" _He needs you more than me, if anything.. I accessed a few memories I really shouldn't have, so I know that for sure.._

"Yes it **is**! He's been eyeing you up for a while now. Don't think I didn't notice," Vanellope said insistently as she blinked away her tears, "It's all **my** fault that he's being such a numbskull about it. He's so stuck on the fact that we've got the same name and similar appearance that he's having a hard time seeing us as two people, just like this stupid game here." She sniffled. "It's for the best that I just **disappear**.. It's not like I want to go away.. I love Ralph too." _He's practically my dad.. _"He's an amazingly good guy.. but I just can't make him happy the same way you can. Besides, Sugar Rush did just fine without me for **15 years**. The players won't even notice I'm gone." _I know he'll miss me a lot. But that's what you're here for.. _"I know you love him. Just accept it.."

"I'm saying it's **not** like that!" Vannie said insistently, hugging Vanellope tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks, "You're right, it's something he has to work on.. But it's **exactly **because Ralph loves **both** of us that you can't just disappear like that. Do you honestly think that he'll be happy if you disappear? That he won't carry a wound in his heart for the rest of his life because he failed to protect the one he loved most? If anyone has to disappear, it would be **me**, but I have no intention of letting myself go either. Ralph needs **both** of us, otherwise we wouldn't even be here in the first place."

"It's not really our choice to make," Vanellope said weakly as she pulled herself away, "Look, see? I'm already fading out." Her entire body began to slowly disappear.

A nearby jawbreaker broke in half as Vanellope finally disappeared entirely.

"No.." Vannie said as she fell to her knees.. _It can't end like that.._

* * *

Vannie and Vanellope woke up, completely separated.

Zombie was hovering above them, watching like a hawk. "They awake!" he yelled before backing away and floating around. Floating around in zero gravity was an interesting experience for him, to say the least. King Candy(1) floated over to where they were.

"Dear, you're going to have to have your father fix your code once you get back," King Candy(1) said softly, looking Vannie in the eye, "I did what I could, but your game might not recognize you as a racer, or even a character from your game until he does.." _I'm sure I probably messed up somehow. Hopefully he has an easier time of it than I had.._

"Thanks, Dad!" Vannie said sheepishly as she hugged him tightly, "Oh.. Well, you know what I mean.." She released him and floated backward slightly. "Where's Ralph?" _I'm so glad she didn't disappear.. I wouldn't be able to cheer Ralph up after that.. How could I possibly have done something like that?_

"He.. He's," King Candy(1) said before clearing his throat, "He's over there, taking a nap." He pointed in the general direction Ralph was in. _You could say that, at least.._

Vannie swam over to Ralph as Vanellope stayed back to talk to King Candy(1).

"I'm sorry!" Vanellope said as she tightly hugged King Candy(1), "Thank you! I just.." _I don't really know what I can say.. I should have trusted him as soon as I saw him earlier. King Candy from Sugar Rush 2 should have made it obvious I can trust him.. I wish I knew sooner he was suffering all this time too.. I could have maybe done something about it. If only I had gone back to Diet Cola Mountain with Ralph the next day after Turbo was destroyed, we could have made up sooner._

"It's okay," King Candy(1) said softly as he hugged her back, "You had every right to feel the way you did after everything that happened."

"You can have your job back if you want it," Vanellope said sheepishly as blinked away more tears, "Just don't bully Sour Bill too much, he might go ballistic." She chuckled. _A stupid pun.._

"I need to apologize to Sour Bill as well. Poor little guy.." King Candy(1) said, "I know you want to see Ralph, so I'll leave you three alone. Just don't let him wreck anything else." He laughed and left the code room with Zombie._ I guess we should just wait in the hall._

The two girls hovered around Ralph as he slept.

"I told you so," Vannie said with a sheepish grin. _I almost thought you really would disappear though.._

"Yeah well, so what?" Vanellope said with a sheepish chuckle. _I'm glad we got separated okay.._

A few minutes passed and Ralph finally woke up.

"Mmm.." Ralph mumbled. _Oh, come on! It was getting to a good part!_ He slowly opened his eyes. _Double vision.. Focus, focus.. Oh._ He smiled warmly at the two girls as they rushed him.

"**Ralph**!" Vanellope and Vannie yelled as they hugged him tightly.

"I uh.." Ralph said with a nervous chuckle. _I don't know what to say, honestly.. _He simply hugged them back. _I'll find the words later.._

"How's your brain?" Vanellope asked wryly.

"Aside from the stink?" Ralph asked jokingly, "I'm good.. I was thinking.."

"That's dangerous," Vannie said with a laugh. _I hope it's good news for me.._

"Can I maybe call you Vannie?" Ralph asked Vannie, "I mean, just to make it easier, you know?" _I don't know how to just come out and say it.._

"Hmm.. Well I don't know," Vannie said mischievously, "What do I get in return?" _That's a nudge in the right direction.._

"Okay, well.. How about lunch?" Ralph asked sheepishly, "Just the two of us." _You know. Like you wanted.._

"**Deal**!" Vannie said as she kissed him on the cheek, "I'll hold you to it!" _So he's saying yes, right? He's going to go out with me, right?_

"Blehhh," Vanellope said while rolling her eyes, "I think I'm gonna be sick.. No, but really. I'm happy.. Let's get out of here already, this place creeps me out." _Well, Ralph came around, I guess. Even better. Go get 'em 'Vannie'.. I like that nickname. It suits her._

"So where's King Candy?" Ralph asked as they floated toward the exit, "I've gotta thank him." _He really came through, it seems._

"I'm over here!" King Candy(1) said with a laugh as he waved from the exit of the room, "You're _welcome_!" _Now if we can just get this **door** fixed!_

"Zombie here **too**!" Zombie yelled.

"Thanks, Zombie," Ralph said, "It's good to have you around."

"This door is **really** going to be a problem, you know.." King Candy(1) said with a sigh, "You said 'Felix' will fix it, but where is he exactly?"

"Oh.. Sorry about that," Ralph said softly as he looked at his knuckles which were still bleeding slightly, "We'll go look for him now if you want.."

"Please do!" King Candy(1) said. _Otherwise I can't really leave this spot.._

Ralph, Vannie and Vanellope left Sugar Rush. All the while Ralph was being quizzed by Vanellope on past events they shared together.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Some of you may remember that locked box Markowski found way at the beginning. I kept forgetting to find a good way to work that in, but what happened with it this chapter was intended all along. It's just kind of late to help anything.

So there we have it, everyone's memories are restored and romance is beginning to bloom. If you're curious about King Candy(1)'s side of things, that was written in one of my other stories, 'Zombie Candy'. But if you're curious why they're successfully split up, let's just say that King Candy was able to tinker with the code enough to make a guest directory. Somewhere for files of non-native game characters to be saved to so that it didn't happen again (such as other characters from Sugar Rush 2 visiting). It's not the solution King Candy would have gone with, but it certainly helps.

I'm not sure if I'll end up rewriting Zombie Candy in this style. If I do it will be a long while from now.


	31. Negotiations

**Author's Note: **Also read 28-30 for the full ending. There will be a couple of bonus chapters coming soon, so please follow/favorite so you know when they come up ;).

* * *

"Knowing them, it's got to be Sugar Rush," Felix said cheerfully. _Leave it to Ralph to meet Vanellope in Sugar Rush 2 right away._

Felix and Calhoun went to Game Station East and met up with Ralph, Vannie, and Vanellope on their way to Sugar Rush. Vanellope was on Ralph's shoulder, per the norm.

"Hey guys, we were just coming look for you," Ralph said with a nervous chuckle, "There's uh.. Well, there's something that needs fixing.." _It couldn't be helped.._

"What is it **this** time?" Calhoun asked firmly as she crossed her arms. _Who knows what untold destruction lay ahead in Sugar Rush.. Was the castle demolished? Did he sneak another Cy-bug in? No that couldn't be it.._

"No, no, it's nothing serious," Ralph said with a smirk, "There's just a door, that's all." _It's an **important** door, but still in all, it's just a door._

"What happened to your hands, Ralph?!" Felix asked worriedly as he noticed the dried blood on Ralph's knuckles.

"Oh this.. Yeah, about that door," Ralph said while holding his hand out for Felix to hit it with his hammer, "It was a **really** hard door."

"I'd like to see this door," Calhoun said. _If anything can put a hurting on Ralph, it has to be made of something exceptional. It could make a better armor for her soldiers as far as I'm concerned.._

As they went inside Sugar Rush, Felix glitched for a moment as his memory files automatically merged to syncronize with the changes made in Hero's Duty. "Oh, so I've got some medals laying around in here somewhere," Felix mused. _Well isn't that wonderful.. And this one under the armor I'm wearing.. Good, I've got the most important one already._

"Yeah, and that's exactly what **caused** this mess," Ralph said jokingly, "It's fine though, really. Couldn't be happier about it." They didn't remember the last moments in Fix-It Felix Jr. before the game was unplugged, but they could put the pieces together easily enough.

"Oh, so your memory is back, I take it," Calhoun said plainly. _I didn't want to mess with your memory files while you weren't there.._

"Yeah, turns out King Candy has a real knack for this sort of thing," Ralph said with a grin, "Oh, and he's not Turbo. So don't give him any flack about that."

Calhoun looked at Vanellope for confirmation. _That true?_

Vanellope nodded confidently. _He's a good guy.._

"So are you going to introduce us to your friend here, Ralph?" Felix asked coyly.

"Oh, right," Ralph said with a nervous chuckle, "Well she's clearly Vanellope von Schweetz, from Sugar Rush 2. She's uh.." He stopped dead in his mental tracks. _Am I allowed to say it? What if she changed her mind, or if we technically aren't going out yet? I still have to apologize and everything.._

"I'm his girlfriend is what he wants to say," Vannie said as confidently as she could, briefly hugging him while patting him on the back, "He had a hard time about it." _Please let me be right about that. He's dropped several hints as far as I can tell.._

Ralph cleared his throat and with a nervous smile, said, "Yeah, that.." _I'm still a little worried that others might think it's weird, but they wouldn't dare say anything to us about it at least.._

"That's **fantastic**, Ralph," Felix said with a cheesy grin as he slapped his knee, "It's nice to meet you, er.. Older Vanellope.. That's gonna take some getting used to. But about this door.." _I've got a fixin' itch to scratch.._

"Right! It's at the castle!" Vanellope said happily, "**Hero** here busted down the door to the code room since we didn't have the code for it." _It was great.._

"Hey, it got us inside, didn't it?" Ralph said wryly. _They don't call me Wreck-It for nothing._

"It was such a mess!" Vanellope said with a sigh, "Ugh.. I don't even want to think about what could have possibly happened if we were any later getting in there.." _I don't know if it would have changed anything or not though, to be honest.._

"I take it we missed something pretty serious," Calhoun said. _You did too.._

"Yeah, me and Vannie here were all mixed up in the same body," Vanellope said, "It was like.. It was so **weird**, you know? Like we could hear each other's thoughts and stuff." _I'm glad that's all over with._

"That's when Dad stepped in and split us back up," Vannie said with a smile.

"Jeepers.." Felix said, "Well I'm glad to hear that King Candy showed up when he did." _'Vannie', huh? I'll remember that.._

"We'd better get to the code room," Calhoun said seriously, "It's risky leaving something like that exposed." _We don't need another case of someone going Turbo._

The door, oddly enough, took several hits with Felix's hammer to fully restore. Calhoun helped King Candy change the code to the door just in case someone should come by in an attempt to do the same thing Turbo did. With that Ralph, and the gang excused themselves and left Sugar Rush to pay a visit to _X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2_.

* * *

The setting of E-Z Livin', as most people referred to it, was a large fictional city set in the 80's. There were several copies of the same few character models in every direction. They were all friendly, for the most part, though they were prone to getting into fights if someone did something they didn't 'like'. Or just getting into fights with copies of themselves. Calhoun had explained the situation about Bobby Dunderson and the Turbo Twins on the way there.

"So how do you want to do this?" Ralph asked Calhoun as he cracked his knuckles. _I know how you get.._

"First we go in and have a little talk," Calhoun said firmly, "Depending on how that goes, we'll see. Just be ready in case anything goes down." They had made their way towards the game's center, as that's where code rooms tend to be located. Locating it was one of the few things that Calhoun's sensor ever came in handy for. There always being something in the atmosphere jamming it. This time it was smog.

Calhoun entered a bar, as that's where the sensor indicated the code room might be located. The bar was nearly packed full of characters from the game. Ralph and the others were instructed to wait outside unless a fight broke out. It could make things more difficult if they seemed to be there to cause trouble.

"Like it, like it," the bartender said cheerfully, "Good?"

Calhoun sat down at the bar, in front of the bartender and rested her chin on the back of her hands which were clasped together, with her elbows firmly placed on the counter. _I don't know if this guy is even going to understand what I'm about to ask.. _She raised her head up, straightened her back, and asked, "Do you know where we can find Bobby Dunderson?" The bartender raised an eyebrow as he continued cleaning a glass with a rag.

"Well it depends on why you're looking for him," a voice said from behind her. It came from someone sitting at a wooden table across the room. His hair was dark and fairly long. It was slicked back into a pony tail. He wore glasses and a dark pinstripe business suit with a grey tie. "The name's Sonny," he said.

Calhoun got up from her seat and walked over to him and said, "Well, it's a long story." _How are you related to Bobby?_

"Let me guess," Sonny said with a sigh before leaning back in his chair, "Bobby has been handing out cheat codes and someone took over your game.. It's a bad habit of his, but people usually just ignore him." _Everyone knows what happens to people who go Turbo._

Calhoun cocked an eyebrow. _I'm shocked that he would come out and say it so easily. So he's also involved in this? Set did say Bobby wasn't alone.._

"It's regrettable.." Sonny said softly, "How do you suppose we should resolve this, I wonder?" He took a sip from his glass and looked her in the eye.

"Well that all depends," Calhoun said firmly, "Let's hear **your** thoughts on it before **I** go any further." _What's your story?_

"My thoughts, huh?" Sonny said with a chuckle, "Well first of all, I would like to stress that Bobby and I are nothing like that fool Turbo was, and whoever it was who took over your game, Mrs. Fix-It.." He casually took another sip from his glass. "Bobby and I go way back. These characters aren't what we originally looked like, as you would probably guess. But Turbo was a real idiot. We made our own characters from scratch. We had plenty of time on our hands to learn. We were welcomed into this game with open arms once they learned what we could do for them."

"So what you're saying is.." Calhoun said as she carefully wrapped her head around what he was saying.

"What I'm saying is, we've done **nothing** wrong," Sonny said seriously, "Bobby is just a little too.. laid back, I guess you could say. He can't help but espouse the virtues of breaking free of your programming, with no regard to the consequences."

"So why haven't you **fixed** that little problem of his if you're all so innocent?" Calhoun asked callously.

Sonny sighed, still leaning back into his chair and said, "It's not that simple, you know? It's a part of who he is, and if done **correctly** it can be a new lease on life for all those characters out there with no home. Take me, for example.. I've been with this arcade since it was founded. My game was unplugged fairly early on. The screen went out, and it would have been too expensive for Litwak to replace it, so he unplugged it and sold it off."

"And what was your game?" Calhoun asked. _You've got me curious with that.._

"Centipede," Sonny said, "Even now I still kind of miss it. It's what I was programmed for, after all. It's not so bad here though. All the free food and drinks I want, steal a car for a bit of fun. Nobody cares." _And then there's the area I made to act out my programming.._

"Centipede.." Calhoun said in disbelief, "So then.. Tell me who Bobby really is.." _I've heard of Centipede.._

"Don't be surprised now. He's actually quite famous.. Well, I guess I am too," Sonny said, "He's the ship from Asteroids. Just don't spread it around, he doesn't like the attention. Neither do I." _I'm sure under these circumstances he wouldn't mind.._

"So how would you suggest we handle this?" Calhoun asked, "We can't have just anybody knowing the code to every game in the arcade.." _In fact I don't too much like the idea of you knowing it either.._

Sonny sighed and rested his head on the back of his chair. "Well, I don't know.. But we're **not** leaving this game, if that's what you're getting at. They don't even want us to."

"That's not necessarily what I'm after," Calhoun said after thinking for a moment, "If **all** you really did was make these characters yourselves and haven't caused any trouble.. Then all that needs to be settled is the code sharing." _If it's truly what these guys want, and it doesn't get their game unplugged, who am I to judge? I'll just have to check for myself._

"Oh **really**?" Sonny asked in disbelief. _I thought for sure that she would have freaked out long ago while we were having this little discussion. She wouldn't be able to kill me anyway though. And even if she could, I would just regenerate. She's clearly at a disadvantage from the start, and she knows this.._

"How about this?" Calhoun asked, "I go into this code room here and erase the code from both of your memories, as well as any of your other buddies." She pointed to the back room of the bar which was the most likely place for the code room to be.

"That would cause a bit of a problem," Sonny said, "You see, we quite enjoy modding this game. It's one of the things that keeps it so popular, after all." _Without that, the players might get bored eventually._

"Alright. Then I'll change the code to this game, and give you the new one," Calhoun said, "Deal?" _This is about as much as we can compromise on this.._

"Well.." Sonny said with a contemplative smile, "Actually that would be fine with me.. Of course, I would like to hear Bobby's opinion on this before agreeing on anything." _We're in this together.._ "You're all free to wait around for him.."

"And just when do you expect him back?" Calhoun asked, "The arcade will be opening in a couple of hours." _So he knows the others are outside._

"He's probably in Tapper's right now," Sonny said with a shrug, "You can try checking there." _He's probably trying to give someone the code about now.._

Felix was standing at the entrance to the bar listening._ I can't help but worry. We're technically in enemy territory, though they don't actually seem at all hostile._

"Shall I have Ralph head over there now?" Felix asked._ I need to stay.. Who knows what could happen if Calhoun is left alone here. For all I know, she could get reprogrammed to be on their side or something.._

"That works," Calhoun said as she briefly looked over to Felix with a smile before turning her attention back to Sonny. "So what does Bobby look like?" _A description will help.._

"Well, I very much doubt that Ralph doesn't know him by now," Sonny said, "But he's got really curly brown hair and goes on and on about cheats. He's always calling people **bro** and **amigo** as well. Sometimes **bromigo** if he likes the person enough."

"Relay that to Ralph, would you?" Calhoun asked Felix.

"Sure thing, Tammy," Felix said with a smile, "Did you get that Ralph?" _Or do I have to repeat it for you?_

"Yeah, I got it," Ralph scoffed, "These walls are paper thin. I could hear the whole thing. So would you two accompany me to Tapper's?" _The answer is obviously yes._

"Well duh," Vannie said at the same time Vanellope said, "Adoi."

So to Tapper's the three of them went. Bobby was bothering Zangief who looked as if he were ready to snap. Luckily Zangief just ignored him, much like everyone else who frequented Tapper's did by then. Ralph walked up to Bobby and said, "Bobby, we would like to have a word with you."

"Ah, Ralph," Zangief said with a relieved smile, "It is very good to see you. Life treating you well, I see." He smiled as he looked over to Vannie. _It is quite obvious. She is girlfriend._

"**Bromigo**! Changed your mind, eh?" Bobby said ecstatically._ He must have made an older copy of his little girl somehow.. I wonder why he didn't just make the little one older._

"Not quite," Ralph scoffed, "Your friend Sonny would like to speak with you, he's waiting in your game at the bar." _Do you seriously think I'd program a new character to be my girlfriend?_

"Woah, must be like pretty important then," Bobby said, "Lead the way man, the layout of this place is like so confusing right now." _Game Station East.. That'll take getting used to._

With that, they returned to E-Z Livin' with Bobby, who was more or less receptive to the idea, and Calhoun made changes to the code while the others kept watch. She left the room and said, "You're good to go.. Stay clean." _I still feel uneasy about this whole messing with people's memories thing, but in the end, maybe it's for the best.. _It turned out that Turbo and Markowski had been the only ones who outright accepted the code, though Turbo received it from Sonny, not Bobby. Some characters who were offered the code simply opted to live in E-Z Livin' as unique NPC's. _I'll have to have a little talk with Markowski later._

Since it was getting close to opening time, everyone went to their games and prepared for the days first quarter alerts.

Calhoun chewed out Markowski for wanting to reprogram himself, but not **too** harshly, considering it was his actions that saved Loya and Spears.

Jet missed out on that day's races, but as a result he met a nice girl, who much to his surprise didn't freak out as much as he expected when he told her about himself.

Vanellope had a good time telling Sour Bill all about the day's events.

Vannie had her character data re-adjusted in time to race.

And Ralph.. Well he grabbed his few items from Sugar Rush and helped Felix drag back his medals. But in the end, the most hilarious thing of all for them, was that when Felix placed the medals back on the highscores wall in his small apartment room, they realized that their memories would have returned anyways as they glitched one last time, remembering the last moments before their game was unplugged.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Alright, so that's the end of 'A Sudden Surge'! Thank you **so much** to everyone who has read and **especially** followed/favorited/reviewed this series. I really don't think I could have done it without all the support its received.

The sequel to this story, 'The Honeyglow Surge', has well over 100 chapters now if you're itching to know what happens to the gang after this. It's a story about their day to day lives, and focuses more heavily on the romantic aspect of their relationships. There is still a plot, of course, but it's not always about a character, game or the arcade itself being in danger. They get to relax and have fun more often than not.


	32. Bonus Level 1: Scolding and Minor Coding

**Author's Note:** This is the first of a couple bonus chapters. This first one is Calhoun chewing out Markowski for wanting to reprogram himself, and then fixing what Set forgot to mention to her shortly before killing himself.

For the true ending of the story, see chapters 28-31. To be notified of the next update, please follow and favorite, and maybe leave a review if you're feeling generous ;).

* * *

"Markowski!" Calhoun yelled as she entered the waiting area of Hero's Duty. He and Spears were eagerly talking about their day and how glad they were that it was finally behind them.

Markowski turned to Calhoun with a smile on his face just as he was met with the side of her helmet which she had swung at him faster than he could react to. _Ouch!_ "S-sarge!" he said pleadingly as he held his hands out defensively. _I somehow know exactly what this is about.._

"Come with me!" Calhoun said firmly as she practically dragged him to his feet by the collar of his armor and pulled him off to the empty barracks. _You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do._

Spears cringed. _I can only imagine what that's about. _"Don't laugh guys, he saved our butts.." he said firmly. _How would you feel?__  
_

After the door closed behind them, Calhoun yelled, "What the **hell** were you thinking, huh?! What were you planning on doing with that code before you found out that someone had been hijacking our game? You've got a lot of nerve, playing it off like you were being some kind of hero from the start!" _Did you think I wouldn't find out?!_

"S-sarge! Let me explain!" Markowski said pleadingly, "I just didn't want to be a burden to you guys anymore. Every day it's the same thing, I-I made it to what, level 18 at best before?" _What kind of life is that?_

"And you think **that** excuses it?!" Calhoun asked angrily as she gestured with her hands and paced, "Do you not realize that even **one** single change to our game could get it unplugged?! What is the second rule of Hero's Duty, soldier?!" _Stick to the program! __I know it's tough, but if that was your role you should just accept it and move on like the rest of us!_

"S-stick to the program," Markowski said guiltily as he sat down on one of the hard beds, "I'm sorry, Sarge.. I had that code for months before even using it, but I just **knew** something wasn't right. I **had** to be more than just some joke character who pisses his pants at the mere sign of a Cy-bug.."

Calhoun sighed deeply and clenched her fists at her sides. "Fortunately for all of us, you were right," she said softly after a moment, "Did you fix yourself? Or did you make yourself better than you originally were?" _If it weren't for what he did, Felix would be under Set's control by now. Jet wouldn't have been able to take over Sugar Rush 2 in the first place though, thankfully.._

"I only put myself back to normal," Markowski said earnestly, "I don't need to be top dog.. I just wanted to be good enough to not hold you guys back.." _That's all I ever wanted.._

"Good man.." Calhoun said softly with another sigh as she put her palm against her forehead, "You did good, all things considered. But next time, come to **me** with those kinds of concerns, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," Markowski said firmly while straightening his back. _I won't let you down again, Sarge.._

"Now I'm going check the codes one last time to see if there are any other surprises that Set left behind," Calhoun said firmly as she walked out of the room. _I doubt that's all he did in there. He had to have set __**something**__ up should he get caught before putting his plans into action.._

Calhoun went down a long hallway on the side of the Armory to the Shuttle Bay. Once there she took a shuttle to the town and made her way to the code room inside the church. _Still a bit of time before the arcade opens.. Alright, so where do I start? Markowski went through our character files already, so I don't have to check there. 'Chan gelog' has to be 'change log'. I didn't have the heart to correct him __earlier__._

For about a half hour Calhoun randomly checked any file in sight, simply looking for the 'changelogs' that only seemed to appear on files changed from within the game. _There has to be a better way.. What's this one? 'Help'? I __**could **__use help.._ She gingerly tapped on it twice, half expecting it to be something Set left behind to mock her.

An almost cartoonish baby Cy-bug with big googly eyes popped up nearby and cheerfully said, "Hi, I am Buggy, your coding assistant. It looks like you're having trouble. Would you like help?"

Calhoun was halfway to reaching for her gun before realizing it talked. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms then said, "Yes.." _I'll take all the help I can get.._

"Please specify," Buggy said cheerfully.

"Show me a list of all changes made to all files since this console was plugged in," Calhoun said firmly. _If you can._

"Please specify," Buggy said cheerfully.

Calhoun scratched her head in annoyance. _What the hell is wrong with this thing? I just __**told**__ it what I wanted.. Should I say it differently?_ "What changes have been made to files since this console was plugged in?" she asked slowly and as clearly as possible.

"It looks like you're trying to find a list of changes made since this console was plugged in, would you like help?" Buggy asked cheerfully.

"Yes," Calhoun said while cocking a brow. _They don't call it Buggy for nothing.. _"Cy-bugs.." she uttered under her breath as she narrowed her eyes and opened the changelog for Cy-bugs that was generated near Buggy. _I knew he had to have something else planned.._ _So he had them set to go haywire if he ever spent more than a few days outside the game.._

"Undo changes to the file 'Cy-bugs'," Calhoun said hopefully. _Can you do that on your own?_

"It looks like you want to revert 'Cy-bugs' back to factory settings, would you like help?" Buggy asked cheerfully.

"Do it yourself," Calhoun said in an annoyed tone. _I'm getting tired of this thing. I could have done it myself, probably.._

"Please wait while 'Cy-bugs' is reverted to factory settings," Buggy said cheerfully.

Calhoun nodded. _Okay.. Stupid little Cy-bug thing. What the hell are you anyway? __Pfft.. Coding assistant.._

"Congratulations, 'Cy-bugs' has been reverted to factory settings," Buggy said cheerfully.

"Deactivate program Buggy," Calhoun said tiredly after checking through the other files. _Or I'll shoot. These other files were already fixed by Markowski it seems._

"Would you like to turn off Buggy, your coding assistant?" Buggy asked cheerfully.

"Yes!" Calhoun screamed. _Just __**do**__ it already__! _She blew a bit of hair out of her face.

"This has been Buggy, your coding assistant. Activate 'Help' if you require assistance," Buggy said cheerfully before disappearing.

Calhoun sighed an exasperated sigh of relief and floated out of the code room, then rejoined her men back near the entrance of their game. _I swear if I have to deal with that program when doing every little thing in that room I'll scream. I doubt this will be the last time I have to go in there.._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks again to everyone who took this journey with me! Stay tuned for the next bonus chapter!

The sequel to this story, 'The Honeyglow Surge', has well over 100 chapters now if you're itching to know what happens to the gang after this. It's a story about their day to day lives, and focuses more heavily on the romantic aspect of their relationships. It's not **all **about romance though. There is still a plot, of course, but it's not **always** about a character, game or the arcade itself being in danger. They get to relax and have fun more often than not.


End file.
